It's no secret that healthcare systems and medical practices are competing hard for a small pool of nursing candidates. As throngs of newly insured patients continue to seek out healthcare solutions, it will strain the workforces of medical organizations across the country. Against this backdrop, the nursing talent struggle wages as hospitals systems and healthcare facilities all strive to increase their candidate options to meet this growing patient demand.
In light of the current super-competitive trend, many HR departments and recruiters are wondering what they can do to improve their candidate search, attract the best qualified individuals and be victorious in the competition to hire top-tier nurses.
Consider these smart tips for scoring decisive victories in the nursing talent struggle:
1. Partner with nursing education schools
One way to stand head and shoulders above the competition is by partnering with nursing schools to build a pipeline for future recruitment efforts.
According to a 2016-2017 report by The American Association of Colleges of Nurses, U.S. nursing schools turned away 64,067 qualified applicants because of shortages in faculty, clinical sites and budget constraints. The lack of resources necessary to educate potential nursing students is a major obstacle to ramping up this workforce. With a lack of nurses already a major problem for this sector, it's imperative that the institutions responsible for training the next generation of nurses can effectively fulfill the expectations of applicants.
Hospitals and medical practices can partner with these schools to help ease critical bottlenecks in nursing education. Whether by offering access to clinical sites or providing a means for current nurses to work with the educational institutions, these actions can reduce the burden placed on nursing colleges. Ultimately, this will help nurture their recruitment pipelines, ensuring they have a steady stream of qualified candidates.
Partnering with a nursing education school is a great way for healthcare organizations to overcome a nursing shortage.
2. Optimize the onboarding process
After establishing a solid partnership with nursing education schools, the next step is to optimize the onboarding process. This may be like putting the cart before the buggy, as the nurse shortage is making it difficult to find qualified candidates.
However, as noted by Insight Into Diversity, another driving force behind the nursing shortage stems from the high number of baby boomers retiring from this sector. As these individuals leave the workforce, they're taking decades of experience with them. Baby boomers comprise nearly half the nursing workforce, and as these retirees between the ages of 52 and 70 retire, many will also soon be in need of medical attention. This leads to a double whammy for the healthcare facilities tasked with helping patients, as they'll have a larger patient base with fewer nurses to deliver care.
As a result, many medical organizations want to replace retirees with nurses who have comparable experience. Unfortunately, this only works to limit the potential nursing candidate pool.
"An optimized onboarding process expands and deepens the potential nursing pool."
Instead of trying to replace a person with decades of experience with a perfectly comparable candidate, medical organizations can facilitate a more thorough onboarding process. Optimizing the onboarding process allows healthcare groups to hire candidates that might not have as much experience as retiring nurses without having to worry about a loss of knowledge and best practices during the transition.
Ultimately, an optimized onboarding process expands and deepens the potential nursing pool, providing medical organizations with more options during the candidate search.
3. Leverage medical staffing software
Healthcare organizations can get a big leg up on their competition by leveraging medical staffing software to help with the candidate search, credentialing and onboarding process. With a sophisticated software solution at their disposal, HR departments and medical recruiters have the tools they need to not only utilize smart candidate matching technology and expedite the search, but it also ensures that they identify prospective nurses with the right credentials and best qualifications.
Whether it's locating part-time positions for open schedule slots or finding a uniquely credentialed candidate for a hard-to-fill nursing role, medical staffing software streamlines these processes to ensure a smooth and successful search.
Click here to learn more about how BlueSky Medical Staffing Software can help your healthcare organization score a decisive victory in the nursing talent struggle.
