Objective: To ascertain differences in the working lives of geographically dispersed nurses. Design: cross sectional.Setting: Registered, enrolled and assistants-in-nursing members of the Queensland Nurses' Union employed in nursing in Queensland, Australia.Participants: 3000 members of the Union, equally stratified by sector (public, private, aged care). 1192 responded and 1039 suppled postcodes matching the Australian Standard Geographical Classification.Main outcome measures(s): Statistically significant differences in working lives of nurses employed in different geographical locations.Results: Nurses in outer regional/remote/very remote localities are more likely to be employed as permanent full-time staff and self-report higher levels of work stress. These levels could be explained by: lack of replacement staff for leave; longer working and on-call hours; and lack of support for new staff. Distance remains a major barrier to accessing continuing professional education. However, outer regional/remote/very remote nurses were more likely to be provided employer support for professional education. Inner regional nurses were more likely to work part-time and would work more hours if offered. They were more likely to have taken a break from nursing due to family commitments.