Iowa City holds the prestige of being the first UNESCO City of Literature in the United States, with numerous Pulitzer Prize winners and U.S. Poet Laureates having passed through its streets.
With its beautiful scenery and an average of 40% savings on housing, this city is considered one of the top 100 places to live, attracting both local medical professionals and those from out of state.
The Iowa City medical healthcare landscape is changing
Iowa City is a regional medical hub and home to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, the state's only comprehensive academic medical center.
Healthcare facilities in Iowa City face unique challenges in covering vacant medical shifts. Entering 2026, the estimated local population of 76,186 continues to put significant pressure on local facilities.
Fortunately, administrators now have access to the most effective solution for maintaining a safe, positive patient-to-staff ratio: a modern healthcare staffing app in Iowa City, IA, that delivers fast, effective staffing solutions.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 4,050 registered nurses (RNs) and 240 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the local workforce, representing a sizable talent pool.
Our platform aims to build a communication bridge between administrators and clinicians, optimizing workflows for both parties.
Budget calculator: The financial impact of turnover
For medical administrators, staff recruitment and training are among the most significant healthcare staffing challenges in 2025.
According to a 2025 industry report from NSI, the average cost of replacing a single RN has risen to $61,110. If hospitals in Iowa City experience as little as 1% change in nurse turnover, that change can result in a financial impact of approximately $289,000 annually.
Nurse burnout and turnover hurt your bottom line; proactive solutions are necessary to maintain staff and improve patient satisfaction metrics (HCAHPS).
In the past, medical facilities had limited options when searching for PRN staffing. Traditional nurse staffing companies act as a "middleman" that often drives labor costs to an unsustainable level.
Now, nurse managers in Iowa City have access to a handheld digital healthcare staffing platform. Our app facilitates connections with the lowest-cost, reliable nurses in the area.
Regulations compliance: Iowa Board of Nursing
Healthcare operations management is always at the forefront of administrators.
In 2025, the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) and the Iowa Board of Nursing have intensified their supervision under Iowa Code 135Q.
This legislation requires any nurse staffing agency or digital platform, such as Nursa, to:
- Maintain rigorous documentation
- Provide quarterly reporting
- Update credentialing regularly
Modern medical staffing strategies must include prioritizing credential verification. At Nursa, we have automated this process to ensure that every clinician who registers on our platform meets the high standards set by the state of Iowa.
How does Nursa work to ensure compliance?
Nursa ensures regulatory compliance through a multi-layered, automated process that verifies every clinician's credentials and history.
- Core pillars: Nursa utilizes automated verification to ensure that every clinician has a valid government-issued ID and an active, unencumbered license before they can view or request shifts.
- Background screening: We run federal and state-level criminal background checks for clinicians before they can pick up shifts, ensuring the data is current and includes OIG/SAM exclusion list monitoring.
- Experience & reliability: Implements a transparent rating and review system where facilities score clinician performance, which builds a "reliability profile" used for future shift approvals.
Our platform’s ability to provide your facility with qualified, experienced, and pre-vetted emergency staffing is second to none.
It is clear that time is money; our automated service saves you time and reduces overhead, giving you cost control at your fingertips.
Comparing staffing models: Agency vs. marketplace
Negative staff-to-patient ratios are a situation that no medical facility wants to face; being short-staffed is a risk to patient safety. The financial burden takes a back seat to your patients' needs.
Traditional nurse staffing agencies can often operate as "black boxes." They choose which clinician to send. Leaving you and your management team in the dark about the incoming clinicians, who can only see the clinicians’ resumes minutes before the shift begins.
Nursa, on the other hand, flips this conventional model:
- Select the clinician: Review their ratings, work history, and credentials to find the right fit for the shift.
- On-demand staffing: Post single or batch shifts in seconds with the NIA Shift Creator, and clinicians on our platform are notified instantly about your shift availability.
- Flexible scheduling: With no minimum-use quotas or long-term contracts required. You can scale your contingent staffing needs up or down based on your real-time situation.
- “Test-drive” incoming clinicians: With no “hire-aways” fees, you can evaluate clinicians in real-time and in-person as many times as needed, before you offer a FTE position.
The differences between models are very clear; technology now gives you unprecedented levels of flexibility and control.
Integrating per diem staffing into your long-term strategy
React to the present while still setting yourself up for the future.
Smart nurse hiring isn't just about filling short-term needs; it’s about building a sustainable work environment with:
- Good teamwork
- Leadership
- Communication skills
Finding per diem staffing that aligns with your team’s culture is not easy. With Nursa, forward-thinking administrators can use our platform to evaluate each clinician's compatibility and skill set.
Our “test-drive” advantage
Utilizing PRN shifts with Nursa as working interviews gives you these advantages:
- Cultural fit: Evaluate how PRN nurses in Iowa City, IA, perform in your specific work environment and their interactions with your core team.
- Build a bench of clinicians: Use our “Favorites list” to identify PRN staff who have demonstrated their skills to support your full-time staff during patient surges.
- Fee-free hiring: Nursa allows you to offer FTE positions without restrictive buy-out fees and “test-drive” clinicians as many times as you want to confirm they meet your needs.
Our online strategy is a no-brainer: we provide facilities with short-term, mid-term, and long-term options for connecting with local professionals who are willing and able to work.
Get started today: Transform your facility staffing model
Move away from the high costs of a traditional nurse staffing agency in Iowa City, and start staffing your facility smarter and faster with Nursa.
- Create your profile: Sign up for your free facility account.
- Verify requirements: Set your specific unit standards.
- Post shifts: List your needs for license types, dates, and hours for each shift.
- Select talent: Choose from the pool of pre-vetted local healthcare professionals ready to work.
If you ever need technical assistance or have specific onboarding questions, our Nursa Support team is always available to help you optimize staffing at your hospital or long-term care facility. At Nursa, we aim to provide the means to enhance healthcare operations management and workflow optimization.
Sign up today and start staffing smarter and faster with Nursa’s cost-effective, fee-free hiring marketplace.
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