Competition for Registered Nurses Heating Up For Recruitment

With the changes in ACA, hospital recruiters now have to deal with an ongoing nurse shortage  all the while having to compete with fast growing healthcare sectors such as physicians’ offices, public health, home care, and alternative care centers such as skilled nursing, intermediate care, rehabilitation, and assisted living facilities.  Furthermore, countries like the U.K. are getting in on the act by recruiting American nurses to shore up their own healthcare workforce shortage.  What does that mean for Travel Nurses?

U.S. News rates RNs as the 2nd Best Job in Healthcare

One major reason why U.S. News rated Registered Nurse jobs as the 2nd Best Job in Healthcare is due to the high demand. Nursing jobs are some of the hottest positions available in the current healthcare job market. With increased competition in nurse recruitment, it can be difficult for hospitals to attract, recruit, and on-board experienced medical professionals quickly and cost-effectively.  Travel Nursing is a great alternative for hospitals that are having a difficult time recruiting and retaining nurses. Summit Medical Staffing specializes in staffing these shortages for hospitals to speed up the on-boarding process and help hospitals manage census fluctuations.

The Department of Health and Human Services predicts that by 2020, the country will be experiencing a nursing shortage of 1.1 million nurses – a 36 percent shortfall!

Surveys: Recruiting and Retaining Nurses a Major Challenge

A Harris Interactive poll found that 48% of open nursing jobs take an average of six weeks to fill and in 20% of the cases, jobs remain vacant for 12 weeks. The survey further found that 47% of hospital hiring managers are unable to recruit applicants with relevant experience.  An additional struggle for 38% of healthcare organizations is finding applicants willing to accept job offers with an undesirable work schedule.

In a non-scientific survey, Summit Medical Staffing found that  a main challenge for healthcare organizations is attracting and retaining medical staff.   Almost half of the respondents reported that recruiting and retaining experienced healthcare employees was a major challenge.

Temporary and Travel Nurses Shore up Staffing Levels

One area that continues to experience significant growth, according to the Harris survey, is temporary and contract healthcare workers with nearly a third (27%) of respondents indicating this as their goal – a 12% increase over the previous year.

Summit Medical Staffing is a traveling nurse company specializing in meeting the demands of hospitals around the country.  We have experts with over 20 years of experience in healthcare recruitment and placement. Travel nurses, therapists, and other allied healthcare workers offer a practical solution to hospitals and healthcare systems that need experienced staff replacements.

To get the process started, call us directly at 877-514-6721 and we’ll immediately get to work on your behalf.  Summit Medical Staffing, a travel nurse company, has become an industry leader in temporary and permanent healthcare staffing through the efforts of our expert healthcare recruitment professionals.