Utah Ranked Among Worst States For Nurses

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – We are right in the middle of National Nurses Week, a time to celebrate those in a critical health care profession — especially considering this global pandemic.

A new report from WalletHub claims that Utah is one of the worst states for nurses, but KSL’s Dan Spindle wanted to peel back the metric for a second.

Utah fell to No. 45 (out of 50) on the list of best states for nurses to work.

While the Beehive State scored in the middle for salary and work environment, it does have the lowest percentage of nurses per 1,000 people.

But remember — Utah also has the youngest, healthiest population in the country, so you have to believe the numbers don’t tell the whole story here.

We need great nurses here in Utah, and we actually have some fantastic programs for those looking to enter the medical field where, on average, you can earn $30 an hour.

Nurse.org rates schools based on tuition, reputation, passing rate for the licensure exam and acceptance rate, and they put Southern Utah University at the top, claiming that SUU is competitive to get in but rewarding.

Ameritech College in Draper, Eagle Gate College in Murray, Utah State University and Provo College rounded out the top five.

SUU also offers a relatively inexpensive Bachelor of Science in Nursing for those who are already registered nurses, with tuition costing about $9,000 for the entire 30-credit program.

So something to think about as we say thank you to all nurses this week.