The healthcare industry is facing a severe shortage of nurses and other frontline clinical staff, creating unprecedented challenges for medical facilities across the nation. This crisis, exacerbated by an aging population and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, threatens the quality, accessibility and continuity of patient care. Whether healthcare organizations require the recruitment of registered nurses (RNs), nurse practitioners (NPs), or certified nursing assistants (CNAs), the need for innovative nurse recruitment strategies has never been more critical.
The shortage spans all levels of nursing, from entry-level positions to advanced practice roles. Hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities and home health agencies are all feeling the pinch as they struggle to maintain adequate staffing levels. This scarcity of nursing professionals not only strains existing staff but also impacts patient outcomes, increases wait times, and can lead to the reduction or elimination of certain services.
This article explores the depth of the nursing shortage, its root causes, recruiting strategies for nurses for today’s competitive landscape.
The Nursing Shortage: A Growing Crisis
The current state of the nursing workforce paints a concerning picture for the future of healthcare. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the United States will face a shortage of 195,400 nurses by 2031. There are not enough nurses joining the field, which is not for lack of interested and qualified applicants. As many as 80,000 qualified applicants get turned away from nursing colleges because there are not enough nursing faculty, clinical sites, and resources to support larger class sizes.
Driven by the strain of the pandemic and a shrinking workforce, many healthcare workers are choosing to the leave the field due to burnout. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the rates of RN turnover in the United States have ticked up over recent years, growing from 17% in 2017 to 26% by 2021. More than a quarter of RNs report they plan to retire or leave nursing over the next five years.
With nationwide labor shortages and inflation, healthcare organizations face rising costs for salaries, benefits and contract staffing which strains budgets. Hospitals and health systems are paying an additional $24 billion per year for clinical labor than they were before the pandemic. In general, modern employees require more competitive compensation, benefits and perks to be enticed. This is even more crucial in rural settings where healthcare staff often must be convinced to relocate.
In order to keep patient care standards high amidst staffing shortages, the U.S. healthcare system relies heavily on costly contract and travel nurses which further drives up labor costs for hospitals. According to the American Hospital Association, the portion of nurse labor expenses going to contract travel nurses has grown from 4.7% in 2019 to 38.6% in January 2022.
While travel nurses accounted for 23% of total nurse hours in January 2022, they represented nearly 40% of all nursing labor costs for hospitals. Plus, relying on traveling nurses can be bad for morale as staff nurses realize how much more money travel nurses are making—thus exacerbating retention challenges.
7 Best Practices in Nurse Recruitment
Traditional approaches to nursing recruiting are no longer sufficient in this high-demand environment. Healthcare providers must reimagine their recruitment processes, workplace cultures and career development opportunities to attract and retain top nursing talent across all specialties and experience levels. To address the shortage, healthcare organizations should consider these best practices in nurse recruitment.
1. Modernize Recruitment Technology
Often healthcare organizations are struggling with legacy recruitment technology that is no longer fit for purpose when it comes to modern healthcare recruitment. Investing in your recruitment tech stack helps you gain agility, streamline your processes and access a world-class candidate experience that today’s nurses have come to expect.
AI-powered sourcing tools can help identify the most promising healthcare talent in a matter of minutes. Plus, advanced analytics arm you with the data you need to hone your recruitment strategy.
2. Expand Nurse Recruitment Channels
Expanding recruitment channels is essential in today’s competitive market. Partnering with nursing schools for early careers recruitment opportunities can help secure a pipeline of emerging talent. Utilizing social media platforms effectively can reach nursing candidates where they spend much of their time. Attendance at both virtual and in-person job fairs for healthcare recruitment can also yield positive results.
3. Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
Offering competitive compensation and benefits is more important than ever for clinical recruitment. Regular salary benchmarking ensures that pay rates remain attractive in a rapidly changing market. Comprehensive benefits packages, including perks like student loan repayment benefits and robust mental health support, can set an organization apart. For hard-to-fill positions, sign-on bonuses may be necessary to secure top talent over your competition.
4. Create Clear Career Advancement Pathways
Creating clear career advancement pathways is crucial for both recruitment and retention—but don’t just promote it to existing employees. Before joining, nurses want to know that there’s an established path to promotion to assure them there’s room to grow their skills and earning potential.
Use your CRM to share content with nursing candidates throughout the recruitment journey that showcases mentorship programs for new nurses or leadership tracks for more experienced nurses. No matter where they are in their careers, nursing candidates want to know their employer will offer support and guidance throughout their careers.
5. Emphasize Work-Life Balance
In today’s workforce, emphasizing work-life balance is non-negotiable, regardless of industry. But with burnout among nurses higher than ever, it’s important to show nursing candidates upfront that you’re committed to work-life balance.
Offering roles with flexible schedules, including part-time and job-sharing opportunities, can attract a wider pool of candidates. Ensure your job descriptions address paid time off and promotes your well-being perks and benefits.
6. Diversify Your Nursing Workforce
Diversity in nursing is not only an ethical imperative but also a practical necessity in serving increasingly diverse patient populations and supporting multilingual patient care. Developing targeted recruitment strategies for nurses from underrepresented groups can broaden the talent pool.
👉 Check out our DE&I Resource Center for information to help guide you on your diversity, equity and inclusion journey.
7. Engage a Healthcare RPO Partner
To overcome recruiting roadblocks, healthcare organizations can partner with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner to supplement internal recruiting teams and create sustainable talent acquisition strategies. When implemented correctly, a healthcare RPO program enhances recruiting effectiveness, attracts top talent and reduces cost, providing healthcare organizations with a competitive advantage.
The RPO Advantage for Nurse Recruitment
The nursing shortage is a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach. A growing number of forward-thinking healthcare talent acquisition and HR leaders have partnered with an RPO partner to stay ahead of the competition. An RPO program can help your organization implement these nurse recruitment best practices and position you as an employer of choice for nurses.
Discover how RPO can revolutionize your healthcare organization’s talent acquisition strategy with our ebook, Revolutionizing Healthcare Staffing: The RPO Advantage.
