Our case study from CentraState is a little different than our other ones. This case study was actually an important article published in the Summer 2008 issue of HR Pulse titled   “Changing the Paradigm of Nurse Recruitment.” Written by Sharon Kushner, RSI’s Professional Development and Quality Specialist, the article describes how a Freehold, N.J.-based healthcare system was able to significantly improve its vacancy rates by hiring an in-house staff of nurse recruiters who could devote their effort to attracting a qualified applicant pool. The result? Vacancy rate was reduced to almost 4% after six months.

This is no small feat, and it serves as an important lesson. As the number of available, skilled nurses continues to drop (vacancy rates are expected to reach as high as 36% by 2020), the success of your recruitment and retention efforts will remain critical. As Kushner points out in the article, “the first step to retention begins with the nurse’s first encounter in the organization.” If you are not making good first impressions in the way you handle nurse recruitment, you could be losing potential nurses – and the key to continued survival in your area.

Read the article here