Average pay for RNs in Arkansas?

U.S.A. Arkansas

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Just wanted to know average pay for nurses in AR..thx

Specializes in ER.

I worked at St Vincents briefly on a contract and they offered me about $22 as base salary then shift diffs on top of that of about 20%. That is with 30 years experience and a BSN. I am curious where they are offering new RN $24/hr. I am currently working as a traveller and do not see myself going back to Little Rock until they can get the pay up considerably. I moved here from Atlanta 8 years ago and was making $24 base salary then.

I too am wondering about wages in Arkansas. We moved from there ten years ago and they were low at that time. Since elderly parents are still there, we are thinking of returning,especially since Slick Willy is out of the picture!

Well, Dubya is no longer here in Texas, but the disasters he left in his wake are still here.

If you want to work in a state that does not require any employer to carry Workman's Comp, come on down to Texas!

I work in Pine Bluff as an LPN in house agency contract (PM me if you want to know specifics). 27.00/hr base, 18% night and 12% weekend shift diff. I average about 34.00$/hr as an LPN. The RN's in the same program approach near 50/hr with weekend night shifts. Its not "easy" work, but nothing absurd.

If your willing to travel, be cancelled, and go to any unit then there is money to be made in Arkansas. Agencys around little rock average about 20.00/hr for LPN's 30.00 for RN's. It seems the agencys that pay the most give you the least work since most hospitals call the lower paying (and lower charging) agencys first.

If you want something steady, same unit, same hospital same schedule every week you are going to pay dearly in Arkansas. Regular staff nurses are payed very poorly out here as a rule. :uhoh21: especially in the small towns that aren't with in 30 minutes of Little Rock. For example working as a med surg nurse full time at a hospital in Hot Springs with 6 years experience = 12.00/hr. Driving 1 hour to little rock to do near the same thing 17.00/hr., same difference with RN's. My brother who doesn't even have a high school diploma can make more money in a factory in Hot Springs then I can make as a nurse in Hot Springs.

i hope that the pay goes up...you deserve more if you have gone to school and now do the work that is required of you as a nurse.....how are you going to encourage highschool graduates to enter the health care field if they are going to be treated with no respect and low pay

i can't believe that there is such a differance between Louisiana and Arkansas

Does anyone happen to know the starting pay for RN's in West Memphis at Crittenden Memorial? I'm a student and I thought I'd start out at $20 an hour. Maybe I'm being way too hopeful! I would appreciate any info anyone has on this topic.

Does anyone happen to know the starting pay for RN's in West Memphis at Crittenden Memorial? I'm a student and I thought I'd start out at $20 an hour. Maybe I'm being way too hopeful! I would appreciate any info anyone has on this topic.

i am a lpn student in okc ok, and i graduate in may. however while visiting blytheville over the christmas break i saw a add saying lpn fresh out of school would start off at 23 an hour. and rn was about 35. i know if lil small b-ville will pay that much the pay in memphis is great. in fact when i graduated high school in 1997 rn in memphis was making 27-35/hr. you live what 5 minutes from the bridge? let me know what happens because i am going back home to get my rn and i refuse anythin under 30. they only pay lpn 11.50 here in okc and rn 20 and this is supposed to be a city so good luck!!! :lol2:

I also live in the River valley, pay is much higher in Fayetteville and Bentonville,I have 28 yrs exp but they don't compensate for anything over 8 yrs. I just resigned from an Ltach unit where my base rate was 24.00 plus 2.00 for evening, increasing to 3.00 after 11pm. The shift differential on weekends is 5.00. plus if you are charge another 2.00. BUT Fayetteville is paying 26.00 for day shift plus the shift diff and if you are in an icu or er it is much higher. I have worked agency at the same facilty that I later went core staff in (a sad mistake) for 33.00 plus shift diff. I would much rather work agency. No scheduling hassles If you don't have to have full time a good agency is a great way to learn where you really want to work.. Also Pysch nursing does not pay as much in Arkansas. Hope this helps :)

I live in Marion and drive to Germantown, about 30 miles, take the old bridge takes 30-40 minutes. I have 7 years exp and if I were to work full time with benefits I would only make about 22/hr, and pay 200-400 a month for family Health insurance not counting co pays etc. PRN is 26-28/hr at the big hospitals. The Med said 21/hr FT, even with Level 1/Burn?Trauma experience. Nursing pay is horrible and while I am happier with 23 compared to 12.67 when I graduated in 1997, we still don't make squat! :o

We can however, move anywhere and get a job, change specialties etc. As well as have an impact on peoples lives, that's why I do this!!! :p

Specializes in OR, ICU, ER & Management.

All I know is from my experience.

In the summer of 1999 I moved from Houston to Little Rock and took an immediate 20% cut in pay.

And no, the cost of living is not higher in Houston.

(no state taxes, no personal property taxes)

Hi Cowgirl, I was interested in what you wrote about pay rates in Arkansas. I am in Australia and have worked in psych for 18 years and currently work in community mental heath as a case manager. I am interested in knowing , if i did relocate to Arkansas then what facilities are available to work in either inpatient or community based and the expected rates of pay.

I currently work as a senior staff member so I would envisage pay would not be that of a beginning practioner.

Hi Cowgirl, I was interested in what you wrote about pay rates in Arkansas. I am in Australia and have worked in psych for 18 years and currently work in community mental heath as a case manager. I am interested in knowing , if i did relocate to Arkansas then what facilities are available to work in either inpatient or community based and the expected rates of pay.

I currently work as a senior staff member so I would envisage pay would not be that of a beginning practioner.

Hello to you . I have a background in acute care and not so much Psych, as far as full time, I do not know what the rates are, based on my years of nrsg(26+) day rate as flex staff is 29.00. Yours would probably be more. Since I haven't looked anywhere else for a job, I can only tell you that Fayetteville , Ar and Fort Smith have psych units the full time pay would be less because you would have benefits. I understand that Sparks Medical Center in Fort Smith has an outreach as well as a Geri-psych unit but I do not know the pay scale. Probably the Little Rock area would pay more and have more facilities. There are other units that are more like rehab and child and adolescent units, the last I heard Charter Vista was only paying 18.00 for full time psych nurses. Hope that is helpfull. You might try some of the travel nurse ads, they could give you a better idea and they would advertise in the Arkansas state board of nursing magazine. Good luck cowgrl44 :)

Thankyou cowgirl for taking the time to respond. I shall use the information you gave me.

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