While the plastic surgery perk does not appear to have been embraced in other European countries, in the Czech Republic — which has an obsession for female beauty pageants and where decades of communism shielded the Czechs from the political correctness that has prevailed in the west — the offer of free tummy tucks or remodeled breasts is considered by many of both sexes to be a generous inducement no different from offering a free trip to the Bahamas.

Jiri Schweitzer, managing director of Iscare, the private surgery clinic where Ms. Kalivodova works as a surgical nurse, said there was nothing sexist about helping women look beautiful. He said that after months of struggling to attract qualified nurses, the plastic surgery offer had helped increase applications by 10 percent over the past three months.

Under the incentive plan at Iscare, nurses can choose from an assortment of cosmetic surgical procedures, ranging from a €1,425 tummy tuck to a €1,300 face lift, in return for signing a three-year contract. Mr. Schweitzer said the cost of the surgical makeovers was less expensive than raising overall salaries.

Of the 50 nurses working at the clinic, Mr. Schweitzer said 10 had opted for plastic surgery, while several more were considering it. One male doctor is also looking at getting liposuction. The incentive, Mr. Schweitzer added, had proven to be far more popular than the free German lessons. “It helps to improve the morale of both our employees and our patients,” he said.

He noted that the need to recruit nurses to staff the plastic surgery department had become particularly acute because of a surge in demand for cosmetic procedures by women who said they hoped to improve their job prospects during the financial crisis.

That contrasts with the trend across the Atlantic, where a recent report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons noted that the recession had contributed to a nine percent decrease in plastic surgery procedures last year in the United States, including declines in breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery and tummy tucks.

Irena Pejznochova, spokeswoman of the Czech Nurses Association, said she saw nothing wrong with hospitals offering free plastic surgery. “There is nothing degrading in this kind of benefit,” she said.