WRAL health reporter Grace Hayba reports that UNC Health Wayne is offering up to $40,000 in student loan repayment to recruit and retain nurses, partnering with Scholars Network to address staffing shortages at the rural Goldsboro hospital. The health system has set a goal of enrolling 56 nurses in the program, with roughly 20 already participating in the inaugural cohort.
Registered nurse Shaquida Lane, a recent graduate of the University of Mount Olive, told WRAL the benefit is "a stress reliever coming out of school." That sentiment is what the model is designed to deliver: graduates start their careers without the weight of student debt, and the hospital builds a clinical workforce with strong ties to the community it serves.
The Scholars Network approach pairs employer-funded loan repayment with a work commitment, and offers partial repayment for nurses who leave early based on time served. UNC Health Wayne also continues to recruit through partnerships with ECU, Barton College, and the University of Mount Olive — part of a broader strategy to grow the local pipeline rather than rely on travel nurses and sign-on bonuses. Similar programs are now expanding across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New York.