3 Tips Hospitals and Senior Living Facilities Can Use to Attract Nursing Talent

High turnover means more invested in training. Plus, without a good staff of nurses, treatment and care for your patients will suffer. And in the world we live in today, a bad experience at a hospital or senior living facility can spread rapidly and have a major impact on consumer perceptions.

Brand perception has a very obvious link to how many patients choose to be treated by you, but there is another important aspect: opinions about your brand will affect the retention and quality of incoming nurses to your organization.

Below are a few tips which senior living and hospital marketing professionals should consider regarding nurse recruitment:

People today want to work for companies that do good things for people. If your hospital or senior living facility doesn’t have a brand platform with a foundation based on the good you’re doing in the community, you’re missing the mark. The solution isn’t ‘attend more job fairs.’ It’s ‘build a strong, strategic marketing plan with the goal of increasing perception of your brand.’

A research project by Corporate Reputation Magazine surveyed more than 1,000 unemployed job seekers. They were asked about whether they would accept a job with a company that had a bad reputation. As a result, of those who responded, 86% of women and 67% of men stated they would not join a company with a bad reputation. Don’t be that company. Be the good.

Your nurses and staff have more influence than you realize. Word of mouth is a vital component of your senior living or hospital brand reputation.

Many nurses in your area have trained or worked together at another facility and therefore have formed a trusted community and value each other’s opinions. This especially applies when it comes to options of future employment. If your current nurses aren’t talking positively about your hospital or senior living organization, it can harm your reputation with potential nurses—not to mention with potential patients.

Build a culture of empowerment. Ensure there is a sufficient amount of clarity, vision and recognition provided by leadership. Consequently, it’s amazing how full your bucket can become when you focus on eliminating the leaks.

Nurses tend to choose that career based on a sense of purpose, hence they’re having an impact on their community, one patient at a time. It’s oftentimes a thankless position with long hours, stressful situations and average compensation. And, they know this.

That’s why, when choosing a place of employment, many nurses are simply looking for workplace satisfaction. Likewise, they want to know that their senior living or hospital system has a commitment to both its patients and employees. So show them.

Tell stories of nurses having an impact on patients and the organization as a whole. And, on top of that, give potential employees a peek into what it’s like to work for your hospital. Encourage nurses to connect with your hospital, or senior living organization, in a meaningful, emotional and actionable way.

There are so many different approaches to nurse recruitment and these, certainly, are just a few thought starters. But most noteworthy is that strong recruitment requires a strong brand.

From completely overhauling a brand, to slight tweaks that enhance a recruitment campaign, we’ve worked with countless hospitals and senior living facilities over the years. And, as a result, strengthened their nurse recruitment programs.

If you’re in the midst of finding a solution to better nurse recruitment, feel free to reach out and let us know if you’d like to pick our brains! We’d love to talk!