Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
FigureThere's a shortage of working RNs in the US. This statement isn't a shock to anyone reading this article, but it's important to note in the context of recruitment. A 2023 study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) indicates that 100,000 nurses left the profession in 2021 through 2022. Another 799,350 reported an intent to leave by 2027, and of those, 188,962 were under the age of 40 (24%), which would create a significant generational gap in the workforce.1 A study by Martin and colleagues indicates that nurse burnout is a major factor contributing to turnover and intent to leave and that short staffing is a large contributor to nurse burnout.2 Time well spent The literature is remarkably silent on the payoff of nurse executive involvement in recruitment or its impact on long-term turnover rates in organizations. In a literature search, I identified one article that mentioned "CNO" and "recruitment" in its title, but it focused on international nurse recruitment. This topic, and more specifically the ethics of international recruitment, seems to be the focus of much of the recent recruitment literature. Time is a scarce resource for all nurse executives, but I consider the time I dedicate to recruitment to be among the most valuable time I spend during the year. Anecdotally, this activity brings big rewards, not only from the standpoint of getting nurses into my organization, but it also has a huge personal payoff in terms of making new connections with nurses and gaining valuable insights from these interactions. As a relatively new nurse, I had the opportunity to attend a National Student Nurses' Association conference in Reno, Nev., to work with the recruitment team in the booth. Even then, I remember loving the idea of talking about my passion for the organization I worked for, the reasons I chose to work there, and the opportunities provided to us. I also loved hearing stories from nursing students about what they were looking for, and talking with my nurse manager when I returned about things the students had mentioned seeing in other organizations related to recruitment and retention, as well as evidence-based changes. As my career progressed and I transitioned into leadership, I sought out opportunities to recruit, to learn about recruitment, and to work with the recruitment team. Throughout my years in the profession, I've received wonderful ideas from other nurse leaders that I've adapted with my current team for our own strategic use. I consider recruitment events a core piece of my work as a CNO. Why get involved? Before I jump into what my recruitment efforts entail, let me explain why I'm so passionate about recruiting. Prepandemic, I would've told you that I was competing for a scarce resource (RNs and certified nursing assistants CNAs) as the biggest cheerleader for nursing at my organization, and that I loved hearing what people liked about their healthcare positions as well as the opportunities for improvement that make them consider leaving. In the postpandemic world, all these statements are still true, but I've added an additional and especially important aspect to the top of my list of whys: the opportunity to support nurses from across the country as they work to unpack the trauma of the initial days of the pandemic and, in many cases, struggle with the continued scarcity of resources at their organizations. If you've sent a direct care team member to a national conference in the last 2 years, there's a very good possibility that I've spoken with them, and if I haven't, it's likely that somebody else on my team has. I've hugged nurses as they've talked about the deaths they witnessed, I've supported nurses as they've told me about taking ED assignments of 14 plus patients, and I've heard amazing stories about the support that some nurses received from their organizations. I've had the chance to stand in and listen to everything these nurses would like to share with their own hospital leaders. In turn, these stories have allowed me to gut check what we're doing well within our organization and what we need to rapidly change, and they've enabled me to keep current with changes in the national healthcare landscape. What's required? Now to describe what my recruitment activities include: I, along with our RN recruiter(s) (who are RNs themselves) and, in some cases, nurse leaders or direct care nurses, attend a combination of local school of nursing outreach events; job fairs; and regional, state, and national conferences. We represent our organization at a mix of student nursing association and professional organization nursing conferences. In the past 2 years, our team has held booth space at approximately 15 state- or national-level conferences, taken every opportunity offered to us regionally for school of nursing job fairs or class speaking opportunities, and even attended one job fair at a school of nursing on the other side of the country. I've personally emailed back and forth with countless nursing students and nurses seeking employment, often at organizations closer to their own homes. I've reviewed and given feedback on their résumés, which I offer to anyone I contact. What are the results? At my organization, we've filled leadership positions that are traditionally considered hard to fill, doubled the size of our nurse residency program, and hired experienced nurses who we initially knew only through conversations at conferences. Nurses have told us that seeing a full-time recruiter who's also an RN working alongside the CNO and other leaders speaks to the value that the organization places on nursing. From a retention perspective, the insight gained from speaking to these nurses is invaluable. It allows us to share stories and continually shift our own practices with input from our shared governance councils. The impact of hearing stories directly from nurses in other states is tremendous. One of the most poignant stories I heard was from a nurse I spoke to at the annual Emergency Nurses Association conference. She shared that, at one point during her shift before she left for the conference, her patient load was 14 patients, on her own, with no technician support. Although California has mandated staffing ratios for RNs, there are no ratios for technicians or CNAs, so this reminded me to ensure we were doing everything we could to backfill and recruit for technician and CNA positions. On a personal level, the connections I've made with direct care RNs, schools of nursing, nurse educators, and nursing recruiters from across the country while working at conferences are priceless. I have a large team of people I can call on when we can't solve a problem internally, and as a bonus, they're contacts who may, at some point, decide it's time to make the leap to another organization. If you're not actively participating in recruitment as a nurse leader, I highly recommend your first call tomorrow be to your nurse recruiter to find out how you can become involved. Recruiting allows you to be your organization's biggest champion, learn what's happening in other organizations and locations from direct care nurses' perspectives, and make changes to your own programs based on what you've learned from job seekers about policies and practices they perceive to be drawbacks or benefits in a potential employer. It gives you the opportunity to hear about the best of nursing and allows you to support your fellow nurse leaders by listening to a nurse who may not feel comfortable speaking to, or may not know how to approach, their own nurse leader about issues at their current job. It's possible your involvement in recruitment will differentiate your organization in a way that boosts your number of hires, both new graduates and experienced RNs. As a CNO, I've found that the time spent on recruitment will pay off in spades.
Ben Farber (Wed,) studied this question.