This predominantly rural, Corn-belt state is very friendly to nurse practitioners. At least one major medical system in Iowa, Mercy Medical Center, uses nurse practitioners to improve care and reduce costs. At Mercy, NPs work to implement evidenced-based guidelines for care. As a result, hospital readmissions are down and patient satisfaction is up.
Nurse practitioners are also widely used - and desired - in Iowa's neonatal intensive care units. In fact, the University of Iowa recently developed a neonatal nurse practitioner program to address the current neonatal NP shortage.
Demand for primary care NPs is great as well. Fifty-four of Iowa's counties qualify as primary care health professional shortage areas; all but 10 of the state's counties are mental health professional shortage areas. Family nurse practitioners, adult nurse practitioner and pysch/mental health nurse practitioners should have little problem finding a job in Iowa.
NP programs for Iowa nurses include:
- Briar Cliff College. Located in Sioux City, Briar Cliff offers a master's-level family nurse practitioner program that's geared to working nurses. Courses are held in the evenings, allowing students to work during the day. The program typically takes three years to complete.
- University of Iowa. The pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) program at the University of Iowa has been recognized as one of the best NP programs in the country: U.S. News and World Report recently ranked the PNP program sixth in the nation. Plus, the school just converted all of its NP programs to doctoral programs, in recognition of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's recommendation that all nurse practitioners entering advance practice be prepared at the doctorate level by 2015.
- Allen College. Allen College in Waterloo offers a master's-level family nurse practitioner program. The school also actively helps its NP grads find employment after graduation.
Iowa nurses who are interested in distance learning may want to check out the online NP program available through Georgetown University.
Accredited schools with NP programs in Iowa:
