I'm married to an ER nurse who is returning to school for her masters this fall. I've had an opportunity to interact with many of her coworkers over the years. I've found nurses are no less kooky or prone to making poor economic decisions than the general population. However, as a group, they tend to be more responsible and committed to doing the 'right" thing after their bad decisions than the general population. A nurse will generally take a second PT shift at another hospital to meet financial obligations before just not paying a bill. All other things being equal, I always pick a nurse over another job description.
This anecdotal stuff is probably a lousy way to make economic judgments, but it works for me.