Iowa - RN Pay

Could be worse. It could be IOU pay

Well I am not currently employed as a nurse here, (nursing student) But I do happen to know that Iowa is just about the lowest paying state for nurses. My friend (LPN) made $8.75 for over 15 years, she is now barely up to $11/hr. RN starting pay is usually around $19/hr-$22/hr. go to Minnesota and the pay jumps drastically, and in other parts of the state LPN's do make a bit more money.

LTC facilities in DSM were advertising $18/hr starting rates for LPNs 2 years ago. Factor from there. RN's were offered $2/hr higher starting.

As an LPN working in a LTC facility in small town Iowa I started at $12.40 and was making $17.40-something as an RN when I obtained my license. This was over a period of employment lasting 2-1/2 years.

Ayrman

Wow- is it possible to move to MN instead or do you have a job lined up? Starting pay for a new grad ADN RN in MN hospital work is $24 and LTC is $17, These are rural rates....it's a little higher in the metro areas. Good luck on your move!

I just started as an LPN in Sioux City - LTC, new grad. My pay is 15.00 an hour. We generally run quite a bit lower than Des Moines. RNs up here start at about 18.00 in hospitals.

I recently moved back to IA from So FL. I have to say i was disapointed about the pay in Ia. It seems as if the state regards nurses as blue collar workers, which nothing wrong with blue collar, its just that we as nurses are carry a professional liscense with an education and for some, many years of experience in what is becoming a highly technical field filled with many risk factors from exposure to disease, injury, not to mention liability! In many ways i always thought of Iowa as progressive, despite how rural many areas are. I was born and raised here and didnt live elsewhere unitl several years ago.

Well, on to your question, sorry for the rant. Im in central ia, which i feel is the only place to be, especially if you have come from a more urban area. Probably the highest wages here, besides UofI, and maybe some eastern ia hospitals. My suggestion is to bargain as hard as you can when first being hired and be sure to highlight every single accomplishment, certifcation, etc. They do need nurses here and i hope eventually they will start to pay up. But im sure that will not be until they are forced to and nurses here begin to see them selves as independant contractors of sorts who deserve to be paid for the difficult work nursing is today and begin to reject the below par wages and treatment they get. Again, sorry for the rant. Bargain hard!! You or your wife, deserve to be paid as a liscensed professional in demand. Best of luck to you in Iowa.






[quote=stevelord;2299047]Raised in Iowa for 8 years, moved out to Jersey to live with my wife. Had 2 kids born here before and after a deployment of mine. Gettin sick of expensive city life and want to go back to the midwest and I'd like to get a ballpark of what my wife would be making out there.

She's got 12 years exp, a year of that in management. All of that in ureology and nephrology. She only has her Nurse Diploma, but has goals to get her BSN sometime in the future.

Would be in the Des Moines area...so if anyone currently working at any of those hospitals, if you could give me some numbers that would be great.

Jeez, some of those pay scales are awful. I guess I am lucky, I am in LPN, working LTC and make 16.50/hour. I am also in small town Iowa.