Nurse Recruiting is Priority for TN Hospitals

With a nursing shortage expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows, hospital operators are rethinking the way they recruit and retain nurses. They're offering big-time signing bonuses, flexible working schedules and special activities aimed at distinguishing themselves from the other potential employers. And they're getting creative. Hospitals are holding breakfasts and other social based recruiting events in an effort to liven up the traditional stiff and formal practices they're typically used to doing.

While previous estimates put the nursing shortage between 800,000 and 1 million by 2020, newer figures point to numbers closer to 350,000 to 400,000, noted Joan Creasia, dean of the University of Tennessee College of Nursing. Part of that is because enrollment in nursing programs has increased over time, but expanding the capacity to meet demand remains a problem for colleges and universities.

U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 40,000 applicants to baccalaureate (RN to BSN) and graduate (RN to MSN) nursing programs last year - more than 2,000 in Tennessee - because of an insufficient number of faculty members, classroom space and budget constraints, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The UT College of Nursing is able to admit only one out of three who apply, Creasia said.

For UT Medical Center, which has seen an increase to 405 patients a day, that means being innovative now and not later. UT Medical Center is in the process of developing an aggressive recruiting program, and it is currently in the hunt for a second nurse recruiter. Also, the technological shift in educational opportunities has seen more registered nurses earning their online nursing degrees as the increase in online education becomes a 21st Century weapon in combating the national nursing shortage. It's a proactive approach that will hopefully allow recruiting to become a strategic focus.

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