Tuition Reimbursement Question

[NurseB_, BSN, RN]

Hi All,

I'm a senior in nursing school and I will be done in May 2012. I've been receiving a scholarship from my hometown's hospital throughout college in exchange for working for them for 4 years when I get done. My problem is I really don't want to move back to my hometown since it's so small and boring. I'm young and I just want to move to a brand new city and experience a different surrounding. I have a lot of friends in the Atlanta area and I've always wanted to make that my home. My parents don't think it's such a good idea for me to leave the contract and pay money back that I wouldn't have to spend if I would just sacrifice and stay for 4 years. When I'm thinking logically I agree with them and understand 100% where they are coming from because it would be kind of stupid for me to do, but then again I will not be young forever and I want to do things that I would like to do also.

So now that I've given you a little background ... I was thinking I will work at the small hospital for about a year and hopefully get another part time job from another hospital in the surrounding area to bring in a little more cash. I'm planning on applying to graduate school after I get one years experience and that's around the time I would like to move to Atlanta. Do you all know of any hospitals in the Atlanta area that goes tuition reimbursement? What are their policies regarding this? Are there any hospitals in the area that would take on the rest of my loan from the small hospital in exchange for me working for them instead? Getting a job with a hospital like this would be a dream even if it's not my first choice hospital or department. I've heard that it's really hard to land a job in Atlanta especially a new grad. I just wanted to get some more information on this issue since it's something that I really want to look into. Sorry for the length and thanks in advance for the help!!

[Lucky724]

a year..maybe..4 no. If that isn't where you want to being your career then don't. Pay the money back. Go where you want to be while you are in a position of relatively no responsibility other than yourself. You will be glad you did.

[SuperMujer2373]

Perhaps you should do a cost analysis of the difference between the additional money you could bring in at a bigger hospital and the principal plus interest you would have to pay back for your schooling. You can always take small trips to liven up your life a bit but if you tuition was considerable then it may be worth it to stick around at least for two years (half of your debt to them). Once you get your master's there are a number of programs you can try to get tuition reimbursement for your costs that are government run. I don't know of any specific hospitals that have that type of program in Atlanta.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Just a thought: for any future potential employers, it's probably never going to look good that you bailed on your initial commitment, even if you pay the money back. And I wouldn't count on anyone else (employers) paying back that money -- it's an employers' market right now, and there are several people competing for every job opening ... they're not going to pick the one that costs them money right out of the gate. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do. (P.S. You are going to be young as long as you decide to be ... age is just a number, trust me. )