Incentives for Graduate Nurses

I recently read an article in The Boston Globe (found at: http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-24/news/29810482_1_nursing-students-student-loans-ocean-state) about the governor of Rhode Island’s proposal to provide interest-free loans to nursing students who agree to work in the state after they graduate. This plan has been put in place to deal with the increasing demand from aging baby boomers as well as the inevitable nursing shortage in Rhode Island.
While currently Rhode Island is the only state to offer this incentive, I hope other states soon follow suit.

Another option for graduate nurses is the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program offered by the U.S. government (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/repayment/nursing/). This program also has been created to alleviate the nursing shortage in certain areas and specialties while forgiving 60-85% of your loans in exchange for an agreement to work for several years. This is a very good option for graduate nurses who have a lot of debt and want to work in an underserved area for awhile.

The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/) offers a similar incentive, providing up to $50,000 of loan repayment for a commitment to work in an area of the country that is short on health professionals.

Individual hospitals also offer incentives for new graduate nurses, although they are a little harder to find in today’s economy. Some of these incentives come in the form of a bonus, loan repayment, or new graduate programs to help train and retain new nurses. Check with your local hospitals or hospitals where you are interested in working for more information.
Are there any graduate nurses out there that have taken advantage of one of these incentives? Did you feel the incentive was worth the commitment? Please share your thoughts!