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While scholarship and loan repayment programs may not
work for everyone, Hackett believes they are wonderful
for many students, especially those who plan to stay
in the area after graduating. "I think it's an
excellent program," she said. "Some students
might not be able to finish the nursing program without
this type of opportunity."
Carmen Morales-Board, MSN, FNP, RN, is one of them.
Now a case manager at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield,
Calif., and a newly appointed member of the California
Board of Registered Nursing, Morales-Board had just
gone through a divorce and was raising two young children
when she decided to get a bachelor's degree in nursing.
She received a grant through the Health Professions
Education Foundation, which paid for her books and tuition
in exchange for two years of work at Kern, a county
facility.
"I wouldn't have gotten my degree had they not
helped me," Morales-Board said. After working several
years at Kern, she applied for a second grant to attend
school in Los Angeles and become a nurse practitioner.
She returned to Kern, where she said she intends to
keep working.
"This type of nursing is where my heart is,"
she said. "As long as I have a job here, this is
where I'll stay." Her experience and education
have helped increase her salary and allowed her to learn
about labor issues, help create safer environments for
patients and nurses, do nursing outreach to schools
and testify at the state Capitol about staff ratios.
"They believed in me," she said of the program.
"They said, 'We think you can do it.' It's a validation
of your goals and your dreams."
After she completes her master's program, DeCoteau
will again owe two years of service, this time as a
nurse practitioner. Her family wants her to come back
to the reservation, but she and her children are feeling
ready to expand their horizons. She is considering applying
for a job in Alaska.
"I'm kind of liking that Alaska thing," she
said. "It would be kind of different. Different
culture, different scenery. Kind of neat."
Contact Cathryn Domrose at kaguilar@well.com
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Students who are considering paying for their
nursing education through a scholarship loan (a
scholarship in exchange for a promise to work
after graduation) or loan repayment program have
a variety of options. Here are some places to
check out available programs:
On the Internet. Many government and foundation
loan forgiveness programs, including applications,
are listed online. You can search for individual
programs by name, such as the Health Resources
and Services Administration's Nursing Education
Loan Repayment Program, or do a more general search
for "Nursing Loan Repayment," "Nursing
Loan Forgiveness" or "Nursing Scholarship."
Or you can search by name of the hospitals you
are interested in-they often list benefits, including
loan forgiveness or scholarship programs. A number
of Web sites offer lists of links to various nursing
scholarship and loan forgiveness programs, including
the Health Profession Loan Repayment and Financial
Assistance Programs [www.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis734/webguides/Ursinlrp.htm]
and Johnson & Johnson's Discover Nursing Web
site [www.discovernursing.com].
Financial aid office. Governments, foundations
and private hospitals often provide information
on scholarship and loan repayment programs to
financial aid departments of colleges and universities.
A financial aid counselor also may know of available
programs. Student affairs directors and career
counselors also are good resources for scholarship
and loan repayment programs, especially those
offered by local hospitals that may not be widely
advertised.
Personnel departments of hospitals you are
interested in working for or are already working
for. Not all hospitals advertise their scholarship
or loan repayment programs. One nursing student
said she found out about nursing scholarships
at the small hospital where she was working as
a nursing assistant after talking with the CEO.
A number of health care facilities offer tuition
reimbursement for employees who want to earn advanced
degrees. If you are already working at a particular
hospital, you may be eligible for such a program.
Even if the hospital does not have a formal program,
if your employers like your work and want you
to work for them after graduation, they may be
willing to offer loan repayment or some other
type of financial educational assistance.
Fellow nursing students or graduates.
Other students or graduates may turn down offers
of scholarships or loan repayment for various
reasons-travel, family obligations, other job
offers-but can offer your name as someone who
might be interested. Let friends, teachers and
classmates know you are interested in scholarship
and loan repayment programs.
Before applying for a scholarship loan or a loan
repayment program:
- Be sure the place you are applying to is somewhere
you want to work. Two or three years is a long
time to feel miserable and trapped. Research
the facility or area you are applying to. Talk
to people who work there and ask about the pros
and cons of their jobs. Consider work environment,
salaries, health benefits, orientation and internship
programs and opportunities for advancement,
as well as loan repayment or scholarship programs.
- Treat applications for scholarships and loan
repayment programs as job interviews. Emphasize
what you have to offer and why you want to work
in the place you are applying to. Employers
and administrators of scholarship and loan repayment
programs want to offer awards to nurses who
are right for the job. Don't begin an interview
by asking what's in it for you. Instead, after
the interview, compare your offer and benefits
with those of other facilities before accepting
it. If you've convinced a potential employer
of your worth, you will have more negotiating
power.
- If you are applying for a government or foundation
grant, realize that you have no guarantee of
getting it, even if you meet the qualifications.
These programs usually have far more qualified
applicants than grants to award.
- Read the fine print on the applications and
contracts. Every program has a different set
of eligibility requirements. For example, some
require that you already have started working
as a nurse when you submit your application,
others require that you have your nursing license
and others make your loan repayments contingent
upon getting your license and starting work.
Some are for four-year degrees only; others
are for four-year and associate degrees and
some are for all types of nursing degrees, including
LVNs. Nurses who receive HRSA grants can't participate
in other loan repayment or forgiveness programs.
Be clear on any penalties that will result if
you default on your work obligation.
- Remember that the money that you receive for
most scholarship loans and loan repayments is
taxable and should be reported as income.
Cathryn Domrose
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