Public health nurses' workforce factors and population health outcomes in the United States.

Objectives: (a) To examine associations between public health nurse (PHN) workforce factors (PHNs' highest education and PHNs' mean years of employment) and health-risk behaviors (smoking and physical inactivity rates), and (b) to investigate the associations between PHN workforce factors and premature mortality rates across all counties of the United States.

Design: Secondary analysis.

Sample: A total of 5,705 PHNs from the 2015 National Nursing Workforce Survey and 2,977 U.