paying for school questions

joshuaclay · Feb 10, 2006

there are several armed forces programs, that will help pay for your nursing education, with a commitment on your part. when you graduate, you are commissioned as an officer, which is pretty good pay these days. it's worth looking into in any event. the navy nurse candidate program will give you a 10k bonus and 1k/mo for up to 24 months for a 5 year commitment.

bell47 · Feb 10, 2006

Thanks for the info but I'm 32 years old, starting a second career. I probably won't go the military route. Thanks again anyway. I was actually thinking of employers who are sympathetic to students who care about making good grades and need to make some income too.

joshuaclay · Feb 10, 2006

:) i'm 30, and going through the same thing. i've already done 6 years in the navy though, so it's not as intimidating to me, and i agree....it's definately NOT for everyone.

my wife worked at home depot while going to school. they gave her the same schedule every week and started her at $12/hr. she eventually quit, when school got a little tougher, since there's pretty much no way to do any homework there. but while it lasted, she was making decent $$ and they gave her health bennies.

good luck! i hope you find something that works for you.

josh

HeatherLPN · Feb 10, 2006

I worked weekends at a group home, gave plasma (2x week = $50), and did mystery shopping around my school schedule.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Feb 11, 2006

Uncle Sam (Army) paid for my BSN and my county for the MSN....what I call the "we pay, you stay" programs. What's a couple years anyway when you look at the BIG picture. A couple years of committed service without debt...sure made sense to me then and still does now. Just got to keep your ears and eyes open. Still waiting for that Doctorate "we pay, you stay" program to come my way...if ever, when ever....you just never know.

There are ways....

joshuaclay · Feb 11, 2006

Uncle Sam (Army) paid for my BSN and my county for the MSN....what I call the "we pay, you stay" programs. What's a couple years anyway when you look at the BIG picture. A couple years of committed service without debt...sure made sense to me then and still does now. Just got to keep your ears and eyes open. Still waiting for that Doctorate "we pay, you stay" program to come my way...if ever, when ever....you just never know.
There are ways....

Uncle Sam's paying for my BSN right now (MGIB), and i'm thinking of letting him give me a $20k bonus to go back in when i graduate. There's no place else in the world where you'll make friends like the ones you meet in the military. And you're not gonna find a hospital that will give you 30 days paid vacation!

Corvette Guy · Feb 11, 2006

There are several Armed Forces programs that will help pay for your nursing education, with a commitment on your part. When you graduate you are commissioned as an officer, which is pretty good pay these days. It's worth looking into in any event. the Navy nurse candidate program will give you a 10k bonus and 1k/mo for up to 24 months for a 5 year commitment.

I have been an RN since 1998, and make a descent wage working fulltime. I've been in the USAR Army Nurse Corps since 2003 [w/prior service active duty time, too]. I will be transferring to the Active Component Army. I report for a 3 yr volunteer active duty assignment to Madigan Army Medical Center on April 3rd. By my confirmed calculations I wll be making at least $1K more a month [1LT, married, w/10 yrs military service] on active duty compared to my fulltime civilian job.

Another tidbit... last I read Males are 7% of RNs in the US, whereas in the Army Nurse Corps about 33% are Male RNs. I'd venture to say the Male RN percentage is near the same in the Navy & AF Nurse Corps, too. Plus, what better way to serve your country than as a military nurse.

*For any of you Texas Veterans... if you don't know about the Hazelwood Tuition Exemption Program, then run as fast as you can to your nearest College VA Rep. My RN-BSN program tuition was paid for 100% via the Hazelwood.

Corvette Guy · Feb 11, 2006

Uncle Sam (Army) paid for my BSN and my county for the MSN....what I call the "we pay, you stay" programs. What's a couple years anyway when you look at the BIG picture. A couple years of committed service without debt...sure made sense to me then and still does now. Just got to keep your ears and eyes open. Still waiting for that Doctorate "we pay, you stay" program to come my way...if ever, when ever....you just never know.
There are ways....

Thunderwolf - thanks for your military service!

Corvette Guy · Feb 11, 2006

I worked weekends at a group home, gave plasma (2x week = $50), and did mystery shopping around my school schedule.

You paid for your education in blood! Now, that is what I call giving of yourself for nursing. :chuckle

Corvette Guy · Feb 11, 2006

Uncle Sam's paying for my BSN right now (MGIB), and i'm thinking of letting him give me a $20k bonus to go back in when i graduate. There's no place else in the world where you'll make friends like the ones you meet in the military. And you're not gonna find a hospital that will give you 30 days paid vacation!

Plus, IMHO [at least from what I've experienced] as a military nurse/officer you receive more mutual respect from the MDs, compared to civilian nursing environment.

joshuaclay · Feb 11, 2006

someone should post a thread somewhere outlining all of the binnies you get as an officer in the armed forces. i think people would be really surprised. most people i know see the base pay and turn away, but when i start telling them about bah, baq, cola, comrats, seapay, family sep pay, AND ALL TAX FREE, they are stunned. i was BRINGING HOME $1300 every 2 weeks when i was stationed in san diego (imagine being paid MORE to live somewhere so awesome!) as an E5. as an O1, you could expect twice that much.