$17.00 Hr. Starting Wage For RN?

NW Arkansas has grown exponentially, and has a high cardiac and diabetes population to boot. Transportation is just starting to get better there due to a new highway speeding travel to Little Rock by cutting off over an hour.

I used to be a Medicare Rep for the hospitals there... what would you like to know about the area?

Cost of living is also very low... I was living in a town where the median income was 27K, and there were 2 hospitals, a university and 15 multimillion dollar companies. NW AR is a lot more populated.

However, I also know that 17/hr is more than likely an ADN rate... keep sniffing- and I'll let you know what I know about the hospital based on my working with them. There were 148, and 6 of us in the state so we got to work with quite a few.

If you don't mind that I ask this....what are the duties of a Medicare Representative? Do you need a nursing background?

Actually $17/hr is a good starting wage for this area of the country(Northern AR, MO, So IL, So IN, West KY) I live in So IL were starting wages for new grads range from $15-18/hr. I am experienced critical care nurse and I just now broke above $20/hr base rate this past year. It's a great wage. Especially when I consider that 2/3 of the population around me are making <$20,000/year.

Real estate taxes are definitely lower!

Thanks for saying that! I know somethings are cheaper, but alot are not! If I buy a new vehicle, I will pay as much as everyone else, also. I am a new grad, I started as a L/D nurse 1 year ago - my base pay is $15.60 an hr. A little disappointing considering I was making $12.00 as a loan secretary at a bank when I quit to go to nursing school. The bank provided employee insurance at no cost as a benefit, and I have to pay for my insurance at the hospital, therefore, I bring home about the same amt. Does that make me feel like me quitting my job - which was 5 DAYS a week, every w/e & holiday off, being $7,000 in debt for student loans - worth it? financially probably no at this point, but the fact that I LOVE my job and LOVE what I do makes it worth it to me! Just too bad we aren't rewarded a little more financially for our efforts. I do get like a 2 dollar shift diff for working nights (actually I don't get that the whole night, just after 11pm or something)

Wow, thats an 'insult' vs. New York's current $21.50+ per hour RN wages!