I work at a hospital and must echo the advice to volunteer at one first before you commit to school.
My hospital is offering a 4K signing bonus for experienced nurses, and 2K for new grads. There is a huge shortage and you will always be able to find work.
Make sure you can deal with arrogant asshole doctors who will treat you like shit. Make sure you can deal with patients who aren't going to be all that nice to you, mainly due to their condition. You will have a lot of work depending on your shift/floor.
Most of the male nurses at my hospital are pretty cool, but the females are generally older and very bitter. I'd say the more pleasant ones are in the L&D/Nursery/Post Partum unit and the ER. Interestingly, most of the nurses don't seem to know their asses from a hole in the wall either, but this may be an isolated thing or just my observation.
Nursing is one of the most under appreciated and over stressed professions around, but it is a noble undertaking.
On a side note, it seems that most of the hot chick nurses who get hired here disappear shortly after starting. Either they're quitting and going to a better hospital or being recruited by doctors to work in their offices and probably acting out the "naughty nurse" fantasy.