The present invention provides an apparatus for monitoring a laser. The apparatus includes a plurality of sensors and a monitoring device capable of communicating with the plurality of sensors and configured to monitor an operating status of a laser. The plurality of sensors includes an optical power sensor, a first temperature sensor, and a power sensor and/or a current supply sensor. The present invention also provides a method for monitoring a laser. The method includes measuring an output optical power of the laser, measuring a temperature of the laser and/or a lasing medium exciting device, measuring an amount of current supplied to the exciting device and/or an amount of laser cavity excitation, and determining a current and/or predicted health status of the laser based on at least one of the optical power, the temperature of the laser, the temperature of the exciting device, the current and the driver power.