The Guidelines for Nurse Recruitment
Effective nurse recruitment requires a thorough understanding of both the target audience and their needs, and the benefits and opportunities that the health-care organization offers that audience. The recruitment process involves conveying information to prospective candidates about what makes an opportunity and organization stand out among candidates, providing a realistic preview of what the job and organization are really like, relying on internal referral systems and maintaining ongoing communication channels.
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Target Candidates Specifically
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There are many nursing specialties and an even greater number of individual backgrounds and experiences to choose from when recruiting for open nursing positions. The first step in the recruitment process is clearly identifying the requirements of the position and the knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary for successful candidates. A candidate profile may be developed to clearly detail the type of individual most likely to succeed in the position -- this can often be done by profiling existing job holders who have been successful.
Provide a Realistic Job Preview
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Putting the right person into the wrong position doesn't benefit anyone. When engaged in nurse recruitment, health-care organizations need to be certain that they provide a realistic job preview to candidates, being entirely up front about the aspects of the job -- the attributes, as well as the challenges that any position or organization will involve. Failure to provide a realistic preview may result in hires, but turnover may be the result when candidates find that their expectations were not met.
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Use Internal Referral Sources
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The use of internal referral sources can provide a good pipeline of nursing candidates. Employee referrals programs, with or without incentives involved, are a good way for organizations to learn about candidates. In addition, the referral process itself can help to sell candidates on the organization and provide candidates with a trusted source of information about the job, the health-care system and the colleagues the nurse will ultimately work with. Employees who are proud of their organizations will be proud to encourage others to join them.
Maintain Multiple Communication Channels
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Communication must be ongoing and involve a variety of channels to maintain a high level of awareness and to generate preference for an organization engaged in nurse recruitment. Communication channels may include the traditional (ads in trade publications or local newspapers, job fairs) or new media options (the use of social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn). The health-care organization's own website is also a good communication tool and provides the ability to share a great deal of information about the organization through words, sound and images.
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