HR Solutions: RN staffing drought requires innovative solutions

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The current RN staffing drought is creating hard-to-fill RN positions. Utilizing fresh recruiting techniques will provide an oasis for health care providers.|ret||ret||tab|

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Marketing|ret||ret||tab|

Determine the needs of RN applicants and advertise how your organization meets those needs. |ret||ret||tab|

Assess your competition for RNs, ascertain the competition's weaknesses and promote those areas in which your company is strong and your competitors are weak. |ret||ret||tab|

Brainstorm about the benefits of your medical facility and share them in your advertisements. Don't forget intangible advantages such as a family environment or a caring supervisor.|ret||ret||tab|

Create fliers and brochures highlighting your features, and furnish the handouts to RN applicants. |ret||ret||tab|

Develop telephone and in-person verbal sales presentations geared toward prospective new nurses.|ret||ret||tab|

Establish an effective selection system. Analyze historical data regarding recruiting sources to determine approaches that generated new hires. Be available during times convenient to RN applicants. |ret||ret||tab|

Make all candidate telephone calls and walk-in traffic a No. 1 priority. Treat the nurses like gold. |ret||ret||tab|

Significantly decrease the turnaround time from application receipt to selection decision.|ret||ret||tab|

Continue to collect information concerning the effectiveness of your recruiting attempts. Use facts to make future recruiting decisions.|ret||ret||tab|

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Your company|ret||ret||tab|

Try several methods currently right under your nose. Post all jobs without listing any deadline date to apply. Contact previous staff and retired nurses.|ret||ret||tab|

Initiate an employee referral program open to both associates and individuals in the community.|ret||ret||tab|

Save rsums and applications forever, and review them every time a position becomes available. |ret||ret||tab|

Establish a Web site to post openings and receive job seeker information. Place signs on your building and in your yard.|ret||ret||tab|

Hold an open house. Be sure to decorate around a theme, advertise your event, and provide food and giveaways. Organize stations such as greeting, company education, tours and interviews.|ret||ret||tab|

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Printed media|ret||ret||tab|

The majority of your help-wanted ads should emphasize the benefits of your corporation. Only one-fourth of the space should be devoted to describing the job duties and requirements of the nursing position. |ret||ret||tab|

Be sure to put your business name in the ad. Blind ads receive a lowerresponse rate since the RN is afraid she might be responding to an ad for her own job.|ret||ret||tab|

Other printed media choices include magazines, trade journals and direct-mail. The headline should reflect a benefit or ask a question. |ret||ret||tab|

Effective content consists of testimonials from RNs already with the company, handwritten messages, organizational benefits and a call to action.|ret||ret||tab|

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Electronic media |ret||ret||tab|

Radio and television advertising are solid options. Run your spots over a brief period of time. Use stations whose audience includes nurses.|ret||ret||tab|

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Internet|ret||ret||tab|

Several free and fee-based job posting and rsum database sites are available. Evaluate the effectiveness of the sites based upon the number of unique visitors, current job openings, and resumes in the database. |ret||ret||tab|

The content of your ad must include complete sentences, a sense of urgency, keywords and several ways to reach you.|ret||ret||tab|

Medical specialty sites and organizations allow either job postings or rsum reviews. Newsgroups enable you to network with passive RN job seekers. Rsum robots will search the Internet and bring rsums to you.|ret||ret||tab|

A historically low unemployment rate means that every RN who wants to be working is working. |ret||ret||tab|

Consequently, you must break your habit of using traditional recruiting options and increase your usage of innovative techniques. |ret||ret||tab|

(Lynne Haggerman is president/owner of Haggerman & Associates, an employment, management training, human resources consulting and outplacement firm.)|ret||ret||tab|

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