Recruiters know that the most challenging position to fill in healthcare is nurses. There is a nursing shortage for many reasons, including the large number of nurses approaching retirement age. As more baby boomers age and need medical services, the result is greater demand than the supply for qualified health professionals.
With demand high and supply low, recruiting is more aggressive. Before you recruit a nurse to work for your facility, make sure the jobs at the facility are marketable and attractive to nursing candidates.
How do you do that?
- Write a great job description telling candidates what you want and what skills and certifications they need to apply. Examples include the facility type (hospital, skilled nursing facility, rehab center, etc.), any nursing degree, certification, license, or training needed, experience desired, or duties performed. This job description would list essential tasks, such as giving medications, tracking vital signs, wound care, or diagnostic testing.
- Ensure you offer competitive benefits, comparable pay, or shift incentives. You might find a partner, like ShiftMed, that offers a pay comparison for nearby facilities. As needed, you might offer shift benefits, such as flexible shifts, guaranteed shifts, or a shift bonus. Job benefits like sick leave, parental or family leave, and higher training may be important to attract candidates.
- Provide testimonials from current employees on your website to encourage others to apply.
- Learn what makes a facility a great place to work. Develop a robust and supportive culture. Train managers to listen, coach, and support nurses working at your facility. Have an open-door policy to encourage feedback. Guard the health and well-being of staff. Consider a suggestion program to help fix workplace issues.
- Offer continuing education and training. Help nurses improve job skills and pay. Enable a real growth path for staff.
- Provide flexible work hours and shifts. One recent study found that nurses who work more than 12 hours in a single shift and more than 40 hours in a week are most prone to job turnover. These same staff suffer lower job Nurses offered flexible schedules enjoy a better balance between work and life. Childcare is a recurring scheduling issue for parents. With flexible shift schedules, nurses get time for family issues andreduce stress.
- Use innovative tactics, like guaranteeing nurses get paid even if a shift cancels. Employee trust and confidence help skilled nursing providers fill more shifts while reducing reliance on a last-minute bonus.
- Offer next-day pay. When nurses complete a shift, let them choose to be paid the very next day. Paying the next day can help nurses with financial commitments, boost job satisfaction, and help your shift scheduler.
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According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a need of 3.3 million registered nurses by 2029. This is up from 3 million in 2019. The BLS also projects 175,900 openings for RNs on average each year through 2029.
To fill nursing positions, companies need to get candidates in the door faster. They need to build a pipeline of qualified candidates. And they need to encourage and reward staff to fill the upcoming shift schedule.
How do you find qualified candidates to fill open positions?
- Post open positions on job boards and social media.
- Visit industry association websites and engage nurses there.
Attend local meetings to find talent. - Attend industry conferences and events. Professional events often offer networking times during the conference. This is true of even virtual, online conferences.
- Join LinkedIn Groups and interact with the members. List open positions in the LinkedIn Groups and tell people how to apply.
- Recruit graduates from local university nursing programs.
- Use industry staffing companies that offer quick, easy applications and tactics that help the shift scheduler fill shifts cost-effectively.