This week marks National Nurses Week, and Medix wants to recognize and celebrate the impact that nurses have on the healthcare industry day-in and day-out. Nursing continues to rank as one of the highest rated professions for honesty and trust, while also ranking as one of the most in demand jobs.
Today, employers face a big challenge – finding the right talent who will provide the best quality care. According to Rasmussen College, demand for nurses is growing twice as fast as the average rate for all jobs in the U.S. How can employers find the best nurses for their team? There are a few factors to consider:
Location
When it comes to finding top-notch talent, a challenge that employers face is the location of their facility. For instance, a facility located in a rural area may have trouble finding staff members because the town is small. On the other hand, major cities could also face hard times because they have so many open positions to fill.
To counter this problem, employers need to look at the open positions to gauge if there are ways to fix the location issue. Does the nurse need to be physically at the facility in order to do the job? Is there a work from home opportunity or a different location they can work from?
The location issue may always be difficult, but as the nursing profession grows and improves, there will be new ways to find solutions – through technology and better hiring processes.
Flexibility
Research from Careerbuilder states that in the last two years, there were eight million open nursing positions, while the supply of available nursing talent was only 227,0000 qualified individuals. That means there are 30 job openings for every one job seeker. This begs the question, what should employers be offering to attract great nurses?
Nowadays, employers need to be more flexible! For example, an assessment benefits, such as 401k, insurance, etc. may help attract more talent. In addition, non-traditional benefits such as continuing education, a commitment to culture, work from home options and opportunity for growth are all factors that play into job seeker decision making. Finally, in cities where demand is the highest, is there room to negotiate the pay rate?
Since demand has remained high, employers need to be creative with attracting top talent, which begins with being flexible and open to a variety of benefits that nurses will gravitate towards.
Types of Nurses
Finally, employers need to be conscious of the type of nurse they’re hiring for and the qualifications that come with the position. The top three most popular types of nurses are registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and critical care nurses. As an employer, are you paying attention to the specific job you are hiring for and the experience/requirements associated with that position?
The Health Resources and Services Administration Project projects that more than 1 million RNs will reach retirement age within the next 10 to 15 years. Employers need to take this into consideration, as many of the applicants may not have the education and licenses required for the job. A way to counter this problem would be to partner with schools for externships. The more students can get involved in facilities who have a high demand for nurses, the better!
National Nurses Week is a time to appreciate all of the hard work done by nurses. As we know, the demand for these positions is high because of many factors, but one that will simply never change is that the role is tough! In the future, employers will need to be more conscious than ever about the ways they are attracting the best nurses for their team!
What are your experiences working with nursing teams? Join the conversation in the comments below!
