Question's

Hello, maia101 and welcome to allnurses.com

I moved your thread to the Nursing Career Advice forum for a better response.

Good to have you and hope you enjoy the site.

There are many hospitals/facilities that will pay for your education under contract that when you graduate you give them back equal time. For example if they pay for your ADN then you give them 2 years post grad to work for thier facility. Same for BSN, get 4 give 4. It's common is areas with severe shortages such as the appalachian area hospitals and rural.

This is a common expectation. I worked as a Patient Care Associate at my hospital and they granted me a paid leave of absence and paid my tuition to become an LPN. I owe about two years as well. The benefits of such an arrangement is that you are guarenteed employment and you gain experience. Bad thing (at least according to some people) is that you are chained to the hip by these facilities if you want to leave. Leaving earlier than the contract states may mean that you will owe the balance of that contract. If I were to leave my job before two years, I would owe about $50,000; not just for tuition, but for the salary as well, for being away for that long a period of time and being fully paid. I am at least working with people that I already know in a facility that I am familiar with, but as an LPN rather than my previous job. I am considering leaving, but will have to seriously observe the by-laws of the contract. Either way, I am not losing, because they cannot take the experience away from me.