How to Hire a Nurse: 5 Tips

During a nursing shortage, healthcare employers are challenged with filling open shifts. A growing number of nurses are leaving the profession due to increased workloads, burnout, and stress — leaving healthcare employers in a pinch. How can you keep up with staffing demands when there’s a smaller pool of nurses seeking work?

Whether you’re a healthcare facility leader or an individual looking to hire a nurse, you may be wondering how to hire a nurse when the odds are stacked against you. In this article, we prepare you with the tools and resources to boost nurse recruitment and create an efficient hiring process that gets nurses into patient care quickly.

What Goes Into Nurse Hiring?

Depending on the size of an organization, facilities often have a dedicated hiring team that focuses on nurse recruitment. They create strategies to attract nurses to a facility and handle the administrative tasks associated with hiring. Recruiting teams collaborate with department leaders, such as nurse managers, to continue conducting the interview process once a candidate is selected.

Here’s a general overview of the usual steps that a healthcare employer takes when hiring a nurse:

• Creating a job posting
• Recruiting candidates
• Collecting applications
• Screening candidates
• Conducting interviews
• Verifying nursing licenses, education, and certifications
• Sending offer letters
• Doing background checks
• Facilitating nurse onboarding

How to Have an Effective Nurse Hiring Process

Hiring practices vary by the type of healthcare facility. For example, someone searching “how to hire a nurse for home care” may have a smaller recruitment team than that of a hospital leader. They may use an agency or staffing partner to find a private duty nurse without exhausting their resources.

On the other hand, a hospital may invest in a larger healthcare marketing campaign to get its name in front of millions of nurses. No matter the size of your organization, one thing is consistent: Time is of the essence when you need to hire a nurse. Here’s how to keep hiring the process efficient so you can fill shifts fast.

1. Identify the Ideal Nurse Candidate

Before investing time and effort into the nurse hiring process, it’s important to identify your ideal candidate. Collaborate with hiring managers to identify the qualities of a nurse that are desired for the needs of an individual unit. Take this time to clarify the expectations and job duties that will go into a job advertisement.

2. Create a Unique Job Description

A job posting is a healthcare employer’s opportunity to make a first impression on potential candidates. It should include key job duties and responsibilities while listing details like pay, work schedule, and benefits. By reading your nurse job description, a potential candidate should have a clear idea of the expectations before applying, such as certifications and educational requirements. Remember to include instructions like how to apply and requirements such as a resume or cover letter.

3. Use Multiple Recruitment Channels

If your facility consistently struggles with short staffing, it’s important to think outside the box when it comes to nurse recruitment. Branch out beyond the traditional job posting and utilize multiple recruitment channels to attract qualified candidates. This may include advertising jobs on social media, nursing job boards, or at networking events. Remember to engage with passive candidates — grabbing the attention of nurses who browse jobs when they’re not actively searching.

4. Improve the Interview Process

A nurse interview process may include rounds with HR representatives, nursing managers, and peers. The interview team should have a list of specialty-specific nurse interview questions to get to know the candidate’s clinical and nonclinical skills.

In addition to questions that are specific to the specialty, behavioral interview questions can help evaluate a nurse’s problem-solving, teamwork, and analytical skills. Additionally, scenario-based interview questions can provide more insight into a nurse’s clinical experience. It’s important for the team to constantly evaluate ways to improve the interview process and train staff to conduct thoughtful interviews.

5. Maintain Transparency Throughout the Hiring Process

Healthcare employers should keep candidates informed about the timeline, expectations, and next steps in the recruitment process. Staying transparent keeps candidates engaged and less likely to ghost during the hiring process.

How to Hire a Nurse Using a Job Board

As you get started in the nurse hiring process, you may consider posting to a nursing job board. This can help your facility gain exposure to millions of nurses on a site with a high volume of online traffic. Getting your company’s logo in front of online viewers also helps boost brand awareness for potential job candidates. Here’s a step-by-step guide for posting to a job board:

• Define the Role: Refer to the job description to define the needs and requirements for the role. This may include specifics about what you’re looking for in an ideal candidate.
• Set a Budget: Collaborate with the hiring team to decide how much of the recruitment budget will go toward job postings. Discuss the costs and benefits of investing in a nursing job board subscription to boost your chances of hiring qualified candidates.
• Create an Employer Account: After signing up for a subscription, you’ll get access to an employer account where you’ll share details about the company.
• Enter the Job Details: Next, submit the job description you crafted. Be sure to include keywords that will attract candidates searching for their ideal job.
• Manage the Listing: Measure a job advertisement’s performance by how many applicants you get. If there’s a low application rate, modify the content in your job description. Find ways to reach your target audience in IntelyCare’s job description library for each nursing specialty.

Get Your Nursing Position Seen by Millions of Nurses

Now that you know how to hire a nurse, it’s time to get your position filled. Need help boosting your profile? Get seen by one of the biggest nursing audiences in the industry when you post your jobs on IntelyCare’s nationwide job board.