Expected Wages and Other LaborMarket Factors Affecting the LaborForce Decisions of Nurses in the Stateof Iowa

The Iowa Department of Public Health has undertaken several independent projects to evaluate various aspects of the labor environment affecting Iowa healthcare over the recent past. This research expands upon the results of these efforts to estimate the effects of a number of wage and nonwage factors on nurses’ decisions regarding where and how much to employment to seek within the nursing sector. Utilizing data collected through Department of Public Health surveys, average county-level wages for Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and unlicensed practitioners (nursing assistants) are estimated. Estimated county-level wages for each group are then matched with information on each county’s health care demand environment to estimate the influence of wage and type of employing firm upon nurses’ joint decisions regarding place of work and place of residence. Finally, average county wage estimates are combined with individual nurse data for 13 counties in North-central Iowa to evaluate the extent to which personal characteristics affect the labor-force decisions of RNs.[...]