It’s probably no surprise that during a global pandemic the demand for nurses in the United States has skyrocketed. The volume of open travel jobs is at the highest in several years. More open jobs give nurses the upper hand in the job market. While some hospitals can afford to pay absolute top dollar to be competitive, others have budget constraints that require them to create other low-cost ways to attract talent.
Here are the top 5 cost-free strategies you can use to increase candidate volume and interest in jobs.
1. Fast interviews = signed contracts
Coming in at the top of the list is fast interviews. Travel nursing is a speed-to-market game. If a hospital is struggling to compete with a neighboring facility because they cannot offer as much money, an easy way to solidify candidate flow is to interview faster than the competition. Same-day interviews and automatic interviews prove to the RN that a hospital wants them at their facility. If a traveler feels like they are needed and play an important role to the facility, they may be more eager to sign than waiting for days or even weeks to sign a contract with a higher-paying facility.
2. Provide housing or housing leads in your area
Housing costs vary dramatically all over the United States. Hospitals in densely populated areas may be struggling to find nurses simply because the housing near the hospital is extremely expensive. Nurses may encounter issues finding housing within those communities because of lack of options. Hiring managers providing housing opportunities or leads could be the difference between sign or decline.
3. Guarantee hours and offer more hours
Remember, nurses are coming to work so offer more of it. Hospitals that have guaranteed hours are going to see more success placing and extending travelers. Hospitals guaranteeing 48 or 60 hours a week may see even more profiles. Offering more hours makes the RN feel secure about their pay and gives them a sense of job security for the duration of their contract.
4. Provide job details prior to the interview
With facilities moving to auto-offers or quick offers, the traveler will find it useful to have as much information on the job in advance. Job postings that include shift, ratios, floating, call, patient types and more will likely bring in more interest than jobs that do not include any information. Accepting a job where you have all the information beforehand can be the deciding factor between your job and a position with a higher pay.
5. COVID “protection” – job security for COVID nurses
When a traveler signs on to take a COVID position, the last thing that should cross their minds is if they can afford to live if they get sick. Take care of the RNs that risk it all to take care of your patients. If an RN is working on a COVID unit and is exposed, knowing their hours are guaranteed if they are infected helps ease their minds.
Katie Titus
Katie is a Client Service Coordinator with Medical Solutions, and she is responsible for being the liaison between RNs and hospitals that use vendor systems for staffing. Katie’s position gives her the opportunity to help staff some of the largest hospital systems in the United States. She graduated in 2016 from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Journalism and a B.A. in Speech Communications.