Johanns

Employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034, quicker than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In late 2025, Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD) signed an articulation agreement — effective immediately — which lets graduates from Marshalltown Community College and Ellsworth Community College move directly from their Associate of Applied Science (AAS) nursing degree into Minnesota State Mankato’s BSN program.

“I think we have the best two year program in the state. Our teachers are phenomenal. Our board passage rates are great. Our students are well sought after. Employers always want them, and they’re always asking us when they’re going to be graduating,” said Beth Johanns, IVCCD associate dean of health occupations. “I think we are the best because anyone can teach nursing, but we have really kind of brought the compassion back into nursing. It kind of faltered during the Covid-19 thing; there was a lot of negativity in the hospitals and just the career got some bad publicity during that time. It was an uncertain time, so interest dropped off for a couple years, but now our numbers are really strong.”

IVCCD has articulation agreements with several colleges, including the University of Iowa, Chamberlain University, Purdue University Global, it just finalized one with Iowa State University, one with Minnesota State Mankato, and now one with Grand Canyon University.

“Grand Canyon University approached us because they saw our good board passage rates. Our pass rate last year was over 97%,” she said. “They are always on the lookout for solid programs. So we looked at their program and decided that would be a good partnership. Our nurses don’t ever have to get an advanced degree. They can work forever as just a two year degree nurse, an RN.”

She added that some facilities, such as Magnet Hospitals, require that nurses have a BSN within a certain timeframe.

“We know that nursing is a lifelong learner type career. They’re always learning more. There’s new things coming out all the time, new specialties, new technologies, new medications, new treatments,” she noted. “So nurses are constantly learning, and they love learning. So a lot of our nurses do go on and get their bachelor’s degree, and that makes them a better candidate for a management position.”

Some nurses go on to earn master’s degrees too.

“So what these articulation agreements do is make the pathway a lot easier,” Johanns said. “When I went to a two-year school, I remember approaching the University of Iowa about finishing my bachelor’s with them, and basically, they were going to make me start all over. They didn’t really recognize the associate degree nurse, but now that pathway has been cleared, and they accept all the credits.”

In 2024, registered nurses held around 3.4 million jobs in the U.S., primarily working in hospitals (59%), and to a lesser extent in ambulatory healthcare services (19%), nursing and residential care facilities (6%), government, excluding state and local education and hospitals (5%), and educational services, state, local and private (3%), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Johanns said home health and hospice nursing is growing, to allow older people to stay in their homes longer. In addition, she noted that bariatrics, a field focused on managing obesity through weight loss surgery and lifestyle changes, is also seeing an increased need for nurses, particularly as GLP-1 drugs grow in popularity.

“A newer kind of thing that has just taken off is the medical spa work: Botox, detoxing, foot baths and massages and light therapies and things like that,” she said. “That’s kind of something that nurse practitioners are getting into.”

She said IVCCD would leave the nursing seats status quo for next year. There will be a total of 64 AD seats available across the district (32 at each campus). And a total of 48 PN seats available (32 daytime MCC, 16 evening MCC, 32 daytime ECC).

IVCCD does not offer an online-only nursing program due to the hands-on nature of the field. Instead, hybrid classes have lectures posted online. However, various technologies enhance the learning experience. There are virtual dissecting tables and high-fidelity mannequins (patient simulators).

Omnicell and Pyxis are noted automated dispensing cabinets used for medication management, and they’re now available to students in all the simulation labs.

“We’re just always looking at new technology, and the district is super supportive of the nursing program,” she said. “If we need something, they try to bend over backwards to make sure we get it.”

To learn more about the nursing program, visit: https://mcc.iavalley.edu/program/nursing/.