LaSalle County committee approves raise for nursing-home PRN RNs to $40 an hour

The LaSalle County Salary and Labor Committee approved a motion May 28 to raise pay for PRN registered nurses at the county nursing home to $40 an hour. The motion, made by Commissioner Mike McEmory and seconded by Commissioner Kathy Bright, passed on a roll-call vote with Commissioners McEmory, Tina Bush, Bright and Chair Steve Aubrey voting yes.

Committee members said the raise is intended to improve recruitment of part-time PRN RNs and reduce reliance on outside contract nurses. A nursing home representative told the committee, "I'm just here to request an increase in the PRN RN wage to $40 an hour." The representative said the current PRN RN wage is $33.74 an hour and that three PRNs are waiting to come on board at the proposed $40 rate.

The representative also said the county is currently using contract nurses and agency staff, noting agency wages of about $78 to $85 an hour and that the facility now has four contract nurses paid roughly $80 an hour. Committee members discussed that hiring PRNs at the higher hourly rate could be more cost-effective than depending on agency nurses when shifts cannot be covered by part-time staff.

The motion to raise the PRN RN wage was moved and seconded during the meeting and approved by roll call. No funding source or budget amendment for the wage change was specified during the public portion of the meeting.

The committee approved the minutes from its previous meeting earlier in the session before taking the wage vote. After the wage motion passed, the committee moved on to a separate agenda item to enter an executive session to discuss personnel compensation and discretionary leaves.