[cheyne stokes]

Hello. I am a nursing student and am considering taking a scholarship through HCA, which means that I would have to commit to working at one of their facilities, two of which are in NH: Parkland Medical Center or Portsmouth Hospital.
So I am curious, is anyone familiar with the HCAid Scholarship? Or is anyone employed at either of these facilities and care to offer any perspectives/advice/information/anything at all?

[pmednurse]

Having worked at Portsmouth and done clinical at Parkland, I like Portsmouth because it is larger and you will get more experiences with a more diverse patient population

[knittwhit]

I have worked for Portsmouth for 14 of the past 16 years. They are helping me with my tuition for my MSN. I had been layed off due to a restructure and went back as soon as I heard there was an opening. I love the people I work with. We have a new CNO who seems to be interested in promoting nursing and the possibility of pursuing Magnet status.
I'm not sure of how their scholarship program works but they have a fairly decent tuition reimbursement program. Lots better than others in my class have. They will end up picking up about 1/3 of my overall tuition, without me owing them time when I am finished.

[cheyne stokes]

thanks for your response knittwitt, this was exactly the kind of info i'm looking for. i'm glad to hear that you like your co-workers. also, it's very encouraging to hear that they are helping you with your msn, as this is also part of my plans. just curious, where are you doing your msn?

[knittwhit]

I'm doing it online through the University of Phoenix. I'm currently in my seventh class. I love the flexibility of the program. It is a little more time consumptive than I thought it would be, but somehow I am still finding some time for myself in the mix

[NHmommy]

HCA just sold Parkland...so I'd find out what happens to your scholarship and contract if I were you.

[knittwhit]

Portsmouth was sold as well. We are all holding our breath waiting to see what happens next. We had a significant restructuring with layoffs in 2000. This is making those of us affected by that quite nervous. We'll just have to cross bridges as we come to them. Right now all positions are frozen.