Want to work in hospital to continue education but have a bachelor in something else

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 15, 2016

There may be some confusion as to the terminology here. Continuing education is what employers provide to current employees to help them with required CEU's [continuing education units] to maintain their license or certification.

This is entirely separate from programs that help pay for an advanced degree. These programs are usually classified as tuition reimbursement and they rarely if ever pay for for a degree totally anymore. Your best bet is to check with the human resources department of the hospital or hospitals you would be interested in working in to see if they even offer the program as it's not nearly as common a benefit now as it was years ago.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jan 16, 2016

It's not just the terminology that I think the op is confused about which is why I was asking and trying to ascertain what they were meaning.

Continuing education are credits a licensed person earns to help retain their license from year to year. Not every state requires their nurses or CNAs to have continuing education credits.

Tuition assistance is available out there for employees but that is rare in this market. Depending on what area you live in, nurses are not needed therefore, employers have taken away that benefit. You do not live in the same age that your mom does. In some areas nurses are plentiful. I some areas, they are not. But getting hired into a hospital as a tech and expecting your entire education to be paid for is a pipe dream.

Some will offer $1000 every semester to help out, some will pay half. Some schools give discounts to hospital employees, and some give discounts to those coming from say a cc. Your best bet is to do a little research into the area you want to live and the job market. Them look at the schools in the area. It's impossible for any of us to answer your question here as we don't know where you are going to live or the job outlook there.

Up&Away · Mar 9, 2016

My mistake guys. I can work at pretty much any hospital I want because it is the 1199SEIU Union that provides the opportunity for education.

mrsboots87 · Mar 9, 2016

It's not just the terminology that I think the op is confused about which is why I was asking and trying to ascertain what they were meaning.
Continuing education are credits a licensed person earns to help retain their license from year to year. Not every state requires their nurses or CNAs to have continuing education credits.
Tuition assistance is available out there for employees but that is rare in this market. Depending on what area you live in, nurses are not needed therefore, employers have taken away that benefit. You do not live in the same age that your mom does. In some areas nurses are plentiful. I some areas, they are not. But getting hired into a hospital as a tech and expecting your entire education to be paid for is a pipe dream.
Some will offer $1000 every semester to help out, some will pay half. Some schools give discounts to hospital employees, and some give discounts to those coming from say a cc. Your best bet is to do a little research into the area you want to live and the job market. Them look at the schools in the area. It's impossible for any of us to answer your question here as we don't know where you are going to live or the job outlook there.

This is us only half correct. Just because something is the way it is where you live does not mean you are correct opinion. OP was pretty clear on what they were looking for but mixed up the correct terminology. No big deal.

It is not a pipe dream to find an employer that hires on CNAs and techs and then pays for their education. Even in saturated areas. It's actually a perk that major hospitals will use to attract higher end employees.

Where I live, pretty much all of the hospital systems offer tuition reimbursement. And no it is not just for one class or $1000. Full tuition reimbursement up to like $10000 a year at some. $5000 a year at some it varies, but it's a large chunk of change. Usually this is in exchange for a set amount of service to the hospital (at full pay of course).

Other areas may not be the same as this. There are probably some areas that don't have anything, some that pay more, some that pay less. It's all area defendant and very much an option in a lot of places.

I am from Phoenix metro area with a decent saturation of nurses. So it's not just for rural areas who need nurses badly.