Nurse Recruitment Strategy

To: Vice President 

From: Human Resources Director 

Date: 

Subject: Low-Cost Nurse Recruitment Strategy 

I hereby write to you regarding the shortage of nurses in our facility as well as to provide you with a strategy of improving retention rates. Healthcare provision is heavily dependent on nurses. However, recent data shows that there is a shortage of nurses in almost every healthcare facility. The deficit is blamed on the high number of nurses exiting the profession without replacement. Recruiting nurses is also a problem as there never seems to be enough nurses interested, and the process is too expensive. ABC Hospital System is faced with an acute shortage of nurses due to the recent expansion and reduction in the pool of registered nurses in the market. As the human resource director, I have the following strategies for recruiting nurses to improve retention rates in the short run and in the long-term. 

Objectives of the Recruitment Process 

My first objective of the recruitment process is to ensure the provision of quality service to the patients in the facilities. Without the required number of qualified nurses, the provision of quality services is hampered. It is, therefore, imperative that the nursing staff is increased to guarantee quality service. My second objective is to improve retention rates in the facility. The facility is expanded, and the current crop of nurses is older and may leave soon. In this regard, it is essential to have younger nurses who will stay longer, thus improving the retention rates (Murray, Pole, Ciarlo & Holmes, 2016). Finally, the recruitment process is simply to fill the void of those leaving and cater for the expanded facility. 

Recruitment Strategies 

Since it is my responsibility to ensure that hiring and retention are effective, I propose the following recruitment strategies. 

Employee Referral Program 

The employee referral program is one strategy that works with providing an incentive to the existing workforce when they successfully refer other employees. The incentives can be a promise for a holiday treat, cash bonuses, or any other appropriate reward (Lasala, 2017). The management, therefore, prepares rewards for successful referrals to the employees. The method is not only cheap but also useful in getting competent nurses. 

Professional Events 

Professional events offer an excellent opportunity and platform to get good nurses. The events are attended by people interested in the nursing practice who are competent and committed. The management can put the word out to the speaker to provide the names of the members who asked the most sensible questions or those who exhibited competence from participating in the events (Lasala, 2017). With a few speakers earmarked to provide the names, the most competent people in the events are identified and approached for the positions needed. 

Former Employees 

Former employees who were competent in service delivery can be contacted to refer potential nurses in their workplaces. Even better, the former employees could be asked if they are willing to come back (Norman, 2015). Former nurses can, therefore, act as referral sources. 

Professional Courtesy 

Recruiter calls always go unanswered or never returned. However, the trick is to have someone on the same level professionally call them. Ideally, this is professional courtesy and will yield more returns for the recruitment process. 

Selection Process 

The selection process is primarily in place to recruit new staff to curb the deficit in the facility. The recruitment targets young nurses who have been referred and those from professional events. The recruitment team’s main objective is to get nurses who will improve the retention rate in the healthcare facilities (Salvucci & Lawless, 2016). To improve retention, younger and competent nurses are preferred. The process is done through three stages: The first process entails announcing the vacancy, and after the announcement, the interested candidates apply. However, the referral program gets more weight when considering the applicants. Screening of the candidates is the second process, which involves evaluation of the qualification based on the resumes. Lastly, in-person interviews are carried, and the person best suited is hired. Importantly, the person selected must pass a drug test to be confirmed for hiring. 

It is also essential to consider that the facility operates in a city whose residents have diverse ethnic backgrounds. In this regard, the hiring process should also take into consideration the racial composition of the town. Whites are the most in the city, followed by African Americans, Hispanics, and finally, the Asians. The hiring process should consider the numbers of applicants based on their ethnic background (Salvucci & Lawless, 2016). While it is vital to maintain quality, racial sensitivity is also essential. At the same time, the nurses targeted are younger since older employees leave earlier, leading to a shortage. Younger nurses are increasingly male rather than the previous generation, where most were female. More male nurses will help to address the issues of gender balance in line with labor laws. Also, the current labor and financial remuneration always must apply so that the nurses are not overworked due to understaffing. The hiring process, therefore, is instrumental in solving the problems at the firm. 

Performance Metrics 

In nursing practice, data collection from which to base performance can be a problem. The inadequate system further compounds data collection, so giving an accurate assessment of the performance of the nurses is a problem. In this regard, it is vital to use the traditional performance metrics for the nurses. The first indicator is quality. Quality service is measured through observation of the nurses at work, the work environment, and the impact on the patients (Kutney-Lee et al., 2016). Safety is another critical indicator through reduced infections of the nurses or the patients, and reduced medical errors. The last metrics are patient experience and patient outcomes. With this plan in place, I believe the recruitment process will be a success. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Your Name. 

References 

Kutney-Lee, A., Germack, H., Hatfield, L., Kelly, M. S., Maguire, M. P., Dierkes, A., ... & Aiken, L. H. (2016). Nurse engagement in shared governance and patient and nurse outcomes.  The Journal of nursing administration ,  46 (11), 605. 

Lasala, K. (2017). Nursing workforce issues in rural and urban settings: Looking at the difference in recruitment, retention, and distribution. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care ,  1 (1), 8-24. 

Murray, T. A., Pole, D. C., Ciarlo, E. M., & Holmes, S. (2016). A nursing workforce diversity project: Strategies for recruitment, retention, graduation, and NCLEX-RN success.  Nursing Education Perspectives ,  37 (3), 138-143. 

Norman, K. M. (2015). The image of community nursing: implications for future student nurse recruitment.  British Journal of community nursing ,  20 (1), 12-18. 

Salvucci, C., & Lawless, C. A. (2016). NURSING FACULTY DIVERSITY: BARRIERS AND PERCEPTIONS ON RECRUITMENT, HIRING, AND RETENTION. Journal of cultural diversity ,  23 (2).