[ASUADPi]

While I was in the hospital, I got to talking to the nurse manager and I told her that I was taking courses to go into nursing and she told me that the Banner hospitals (at least in the Phoenix-Metro area) accept "students" and pay for their nursing courses as long as they agree to work in a Banner hospital for 3 years after graduation. Don't know if this is 'true' or not as I haven't had the time, nor actually the energy, to call around to the Banner hospitals to get the information.

Although, I just found out from a mom, to a girl I went to high school with, she went back to school for nursing at U of A, did an 18 month accelerated program and just graduated. Her mom told me that because the Tucson hospitals have done hiring freezes that she might not be placed in her hospital (where she did her clinicals). The problem is that she wouldn't have a job and that was part of her agreement (they paid the tuition and she agreed to work in the Tucson hospital for 3 years). Her mom said that they might have to let her and the other 39 students from her hospital "out" of the contract. But the kicker was that the hospital might try to claim like 1099 on taxes (something like that) where Kelly (the girl I went to high school with) would have to pay back the interest on her education, which would be like 5 grand. Her mom isn't too happy with that option. Hell, if I were Kelly I'd be PO'd. As if it's her fault the economy went to the crapper while she was in school.