Hospital pay for nursing school in return for employment?

[DBK99]

Has anyone had any experience with these types of programs? There are a couple hospitals here in Tulsa, OK that offer programs where, if your application is accepted, for every semester of nursing school they fund, you give them 6 months FT RN employment after graduation. I don't believe it includes books, scrubs or supplies. Just tuition. So, if they were to pay for all 4 semesters of my schooling, I would be in a contract to give them 2 years. I am unsure if this is a good idea. My mother is an RRT in the NICU (which is where I hope to be someday) at one of the hospitals that offers this, and she says the majority of nurses she's seen do this program, end up regretting it. Her theory is that they will pay you whatever they want, put you in any department they want, tell you what days/hrs/shift you will work and basically own you for two years since you are in a contract. I start nursing school in August so I'm pressed for time as to which route to take. There's definitely a high demand for RNs in this area, and I'm always hearing about the hospitals offering $10K sign on bonuses. Would I be better off taking out a student loan, graduating, having more of a choice in where I want to be, and maybe using a sign on bonus to help pay for the loan? Any advice would be appreciated!

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Ten years ago (give or take a couple) I had a buddy go through nursing school and the local hospital, where he lived and I grew up, paid for it in return for work. I really think he owed them a lot more than six months per semester of funding, but in the end he hated it. I'd guess he was there for at least four years and only went through an ADN program. He got stuck working in all of the departments that people typically don't want to work in, and he got the absolute worst schedule too. He couldn't stand working there. The day his contract ended he up and quit, bummed around his house on a staycation, moved, got another job, and got married. I guess it worked out for him, but he hated getting the suck jobs.

[caliotter3]

Seems I have read several instances where people have regretted this type of arrangement. I guess we can assume that hospitals or other facilities make these deals because they have a hard time recruiting and retaining employees otherwise. Why else would there be any motivation for such policies?