You know what they say when it comes to your health: Prevention is the best medicine. And the healthcare industry is doing all it can to deliver this "best medicine" — with nurse practitioners (NPs) playing an important part of their strategy. Analysis by labor-insights provider Burning Glass finds NPs to be in high demand, with more than 100,000 job postings in the past year and an average of 52 (long) days to fill a position.
So how can you secure quality NPs in a timely manner? Let's look at the steps you'll need to take to hire a top-notch nurse practitioner:
Keep reading for advice on how to accomplish these steps.
When healthcare organizations have open positions for weeks on end, the ramifications can be far-reaching. A short-staffed medical facility risks overburdening existing staff and underserving patients. After all, it's hard to prioritize prevention without enough hands on deck! Minimize your timeline and maximize your effort by determining where your hiring process can be tweaked for more efficiency. The diagram below is a good place to start.
In a competitive talent market, a competitive wage is crucial — so you'll need to know how your pay rates stack up against your competitors. For a general idea, take a look at the average hourly rates for nurse practitioners from Randstad's salary guide
Of course, rates will vary depending on your specific location. Our salary calculator is an excellent resource for real-time pay rate data and can be used to ensure the wage you offer NPs will be attractive.
Nurse practitioners can have a great diversity of expertise beyond baseline skills, so it's necessary to know what specialized skills and certifications your organization will require.
Talk to the hiring manager and stakeholders who will work with the NP to determine which qualifications are essential ("must-haves") and which are bonuses ("nice-to-haves"). Perhaps your employer is looking for NPs with behavioral health experience? Or maybe palliative care? Chronic disease? Particulars aside, be sure to emphasize these top seven skills for NPs:
patient care
primary care
treatment planning
mental health
patient/family education and instruction
advanced cardiac life support (ACLS)
acute care
You're (obviously) not the only one hiring nurse practitioners right now, so you need to make sure your job description stands out from the pack. Not sure how? Here are a few pointers.
don't write like a robot
Stuffy, impersonal language can make it difficult for candidates to feel a connection to your company. And a lack of connection can lead to a lack of interaction, because — let's face it — you've only got a few moments of their time to draw them in. Use personable, to-the-point sentences that highlight the value NPs bring to your organization — like being a patient advocate and creating integrated healthcare plans that address each patients' specific needs.
show how this job can be meaningful
Required skills and professional responsibilities are a given, so while they must be listed, don't make them the heart of the description. Instead, highlight the human elements of the job that make the role rewarding. Nurse practitioners get to perform many of the same duties as physicians and get to develop trusting relationships with their patients as they monitor long-term treatment plans, for example, so bring out the heart of this very empathetic role.
make it easy to skim
Lengthy paragraphs can quickly bog down your description, making it a chore to read. Breaking up the text with short paragraphs and bullet points will not only make this information more readily digestible, but it'll be more mobile-friendly — an important consideration in our digital world. Candidates will want to know the most important aspects of the position within 10 seconds, so be sure to touch upon things like advancement opportunities, since NPs expect to be able to move up quickly in an organization.
In order to make a wise hire today, you need to understand what the industry will look like tomorrow. No one has a crystal ball, but luckily there is data that allows you to track trends and strategize accordingly.
Here are some relevant factors to know:
The need for nurse practitioners is estimated to grow 45 percent by 2029.
Increased focus on preventative care and healthcare needs for the aging boomer population are key factors behind the uptick in demand for NPs.
Specialized skills vary from candidate to candidate, as there are many certifications available for them to obtain, so the most sought-after skill sets are dependent on your specific needs.
You have a lot of options when it comes to how and where to source NPs. And while posting your openings on job boards and social media are common recruitment channels, given the high — and increasing — demand for quality nurse practitioners, partnering with a seasoned staffing firm can provide unmatched advantages.
Think of it like this: Indiscriminately posting on job sites is like playing catch by yourself — you throw out a job description not knowing if someone is there to catch it. Using a staffing agency takes the uncertainty out of the game. You can be confident your job opportunity will be caught by an entire pool of vetted, qualified NPs. Even better, staffing professionals mitigate the risks of bad hires by working to find the right person for your position, which saves your organization time and money down the road.
Check out Randstad's Find Employees portal today to browse our nationwide networks of available NPs. Then, connect with Randstad's healthcare experts to learn more about why and how a staffing firm could be the best choice for your hiring needs.