El Centro ADN at Presby (THR) or Methodist Hospital?

ETCO2 · Oct 17, 2009

I work for THR and have friends in the program or just starting. From what I have learned I would advise going the El Centro or Northlake route. While the expenses of THR program are supposedly completely covered by the hospital system. Alot of them are actually covered through reimbursement at the end of the semester. So you still have to come up with money up front. In addition if you are working as clinical staff within the THR system you probably wont be eligible for any of the bonuses afforded to new hires once you get licensed and start working as a THR nurse. This could equate to thousands in lost signing bonuses. Looking over their programs cost sheet, they seem to really overstate the costs they cover to come up with the $15K payback they require if you dont come work for them for 2 years after completing the program. They also dont mention anything about your starting rate of pay at the end of the program. I know our annual raises equate to about 5% on the top end per year. I would think that skipping around hospital to hospital for the first couple of years would help bolster your pay much more significantly than hanging around THR for 2 years. I know that I currently work at the higher end of a non-certified tech level position and make more than the GNs working in our hospital. I may actually make around what the lower end of the new RN scale is set at as well. Anyway, from what I have learned, most people I have spoken with in or entering the THR program given the choice after gathering their information, would have chosen to go the standard ECC route. Im not saying its not a good way to go, just passing on what I know about it. On the upside, there is a very small applicant pool. so your chances of getting in are very good with just about any 2.5 or better GPA. But they do require that you have all of the general/support courses completed before you can even apply.