Nursing Recruitment Techniques

Nurses are in a caring profession because they want to be. Nurses want to be treated with respect and dignity for the hard work they do and the amount of work they accomplish. Nurses need to be recognized for their efforts. Most nurses look for employment that will contain a caring environment to work in. Most nurses prefer quality over quantity and don't want to work in a "factory-oriented" health care environment. It's important to use this common knowledge when recruiting nurses.

Word of Mouth

• Medical institutions looking for nurses should start with word of mouth. Since many nurses know each other---from going to school together to working together in other establishments---you can use the knowledge of nurses already working for you to find other nurses and recruit them for your institution.

Advertising

• The next step is advertising in newspapers and medical journals. Advertising for nurses to attract their attention should contain the following elements: a high rate of pay for nurses, a sign-on bonus, merit raises for a job well done and full tuition reimbursement for nurses who want to further their education. Another element to consider is benefits. Many nurses have families and in today's world there are many single mothers who are nurses. A benefit such as health insurance in which a majority of the insurance is paid by the employer is a must.

Personal

• The nursing recruiter herself should be a professional recruiter as well as a nurse herself. Standard human resources types are fine for many businesses and may, in fact, do initial interviews, but only trained and experienced nurses can give full and fair assessments of how extensive the recruit's knowledge and experience are as well as how good a fit the recruit might be for the institution. The selling key point is that the nurse works for the organization and shows in her smile that she likes her boss and is treated well.