4 Top Strategies for Recruiting Nurses

Nursing is the nation’s largest profession within the healthcare field. At this moment, healthcare recruiters are finding themselves experiencing a unique challenge: attracting nurses while there is an increasing demand during a nationwide shortage.

A combination of factors are contributing to the widening gap between supply and demand for nurses, including:

• The "COVID-19 effect" increased burnout and led to many nurses leaving the field entirely.
• Seasoned nurses are leaving the field in droves - Baby Boomers are now reaching retirement age.
• The hurdles facing nursing schools — inadequate staffing, teaching facilities, clinical sites, and funds — resulted in 80,251 qualified applicants being declined in 2020.

Utilize social media platforms

If recruiters aren’t already utilizing Facebook to connect with nurses, they’re missing out on a huge pool of stellar candidates. Facebook is the fastest-growing social media platform, having racked up 2.9 billion global monthly active users by the third quarter of 2021.

The option to boost job posts to a specific demographic and geographic area allows you to reach a larger audience, including passive candidates. Also, joining and posting in Facebook groups will net even greater results for those who do their homework—scoping out the multitude of specialty groups, and focusing on acute and long-term care settings. Hundreds of thousands of nurses (LPNs, RNs, nurse leaders) are active in these groups daily, especially those looking for travel contracts.

As always, being present and engaged on social media increases brand awareness for your company and drives a broader audience to your job boards and beyond.

Focus on work-life balance along with job specifics

Of course, include details about the open position(s) in all job postings, but every candidate wants and needs to know the rest of the story.

• What does the building offer in the way of benefits, time off, and other perks?
• How flexible are the scheduling options?
• What about support staff, medical equipment, and continuing education?
• Is the importance of self-care and preventing burnout a tangible core value?
• Are free counseling services available via the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
  
  

Create a personal, relatable brand that shines

According to a recent Forbes article, Millennial and Gen-Z consumers prefer to do business with companies that have a defined mission and distinct brand story. Give your organization a personality with vibrant, captivating content (including images) and messages — most people will scroll right past something that seems “vanilla,” or similar to all the rest. Focus on what goes on behind the scenes at your organization – give users an inside look at the culture. Consider sharing staff spotlight stories. Be upfront about how leadership is addressing current crises. Stellar candidates are drawn in when an organization's authentic brand is front and center.

View retention of your current workforce as a recruiting strategy

When quality team members stay on the job, by all means, that should be considered a winning recruiting strategy. A host of factors influence those crucial "do I stay or do I go?" decisions. Things such as—

• flexible schedules
• recognition programs
• opportunities for promotion
• the recognition of well-developed soft skills and the potential they provide
• a demonstrated interest in career advancement via ongoing conversations
• the availability to earn free CEUs or additional certifications

According to GlassDoor, in addition to writing a robust job description, a great way to find candidates for nursing roles is to utilize an Employee Referral Program. Ask your top nurses to refer friends or previous colleagues who might be looking for their next nursing opportunity. And of course, reward the referrer with a cash incentive.

The challenges surrounding recruiting enough nurses will continue for the foreseeable future. But a proactive, focused, and intentional game plan will help organizations combat the factors that are fueling the nursing shortage.