Blessing's Educational Assistance Programs

Nursing is ever-evolving and changing, requiring nurses to grow and expand their knowledge to deliver safe, high-quality patient care. Blessing has a commitment to education and invests in its nurses and employees through educational assistance programs. Blessing offers several types of assistance for higher education.

  • The Employee Educational Assistance Program (EEAP) is available to all employees who want to  continue their education. Employees who use EEAP  can get up to $20,000 of tuition assistance depending  on their years of service. 
  • The Blessing Education Revolving Fund is available to those who continue their education at Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing & Health Sciences. Both Revolving Fund assistance and the EEAP are paid back by working full time at the hospital. 
  • Blessing also offers a $10,000 student loan forgiveness program. That has supplied over $1.8 million in student loan forgiveness since inception. 

Assistance for specialty certification Certifications are a great way to extend the knowledge of the nurse to become an expert in their specialty. Blessing offers two ways to support nurses who seek out professional certifications. There is a voucher program where the nurse enters a special code when registering for the test, and it is free for the nurse. The hospital also offers study courses and materials at no cost to nurses. 

The second option is if there is not a voucher program for the certification the nurse is seeking, they can pay out of pocket for the exam. Once they have passed the exam, they can be reimbursed for their cost. Approximately 40% of all eligible Blessing Hospital RNs are certified. 

Shannon admits even with the assistance, returning to school is not easy.

“It has its challenges,” she admits. “I feel there are times I should be focused on my children, but also have school work on my mind. It can be distracting, but I have learned to balance it all.”

Being able to work toward her degree on a part-time basis, and the understanding of the Blessing-Rieman faculty is part of the balance that is moving Shannon, and her family, toward the goal of earning an MSN degree. “Part time is much more manageable, and the instructors work with you,” she concluded.