Salary question, something doesn't seem right to me.

I am looking at start school in September. I live in a really small town, that may or may not offer a BSN program in 2010. If not, I will be taking the practical nursing course instead. So I wanted to find out what a practical nurse makes. I have looked on here, and searched through google. I have checked the local hopstial website, and my husband asked a friend who's fiance is a practical nurse at the local clinic.

The fiance said she makes about $25 an hour working at the clinic (the clinic website offers no info or job postings to compare with).

The local hospital website only mentions RN's, and says the pay is 23.80 an hour, with several postings listed.

Is it actually possible in the same town for RN's to make less than a practical nurse? Because if that is the case it seems like taking the 2 year course instead of the 4 would be a better choice.

I haven't talked to the woman myself, but I am thinking of calling and asking her about this, just incase her fiance was wrong. But I feel really wierd asking someone I met once what she makes, even though she knows I am planning to start school once I do my pre-req's (I am from a different country, so I didn't take all the needed classes).

Can anyone tell me about this salary question? Is that a normal salary for practical nurses? Or is it possible that the hospital website has an error and that is for practical nurses not RNs?