By instituting referral programs, handing out hiring bonuses, and offering free training or tuition reimbursement, healthcare facilities are hoping to attract and retain employees in the tightest labor market since the Vietnam war. Some hospitals are taking a page from the IT recruiters handbook, by offering referral fees for new hires. However, the large signing bonuses require significant seniority in sought-after specialties. This recruiting tool has its detractors as some H.R. professionals believe that the large signing bonuses are most effective when paid out over a period of 2 to 3 years. In order to retain their nurses some hospitals are offering in-house training programs.
Nursing specialties offer higher pay and have the added cachet of being more prestigious.
Nurses can take advantage of being trained for jobs in critical care, ER, and labor and delivery. Other institutions offer tuition reimbursement plans for approved coursework. Using Niche Oriented Job Boards Anecdotal evidence shows that small job boards focusing on a particular industry or closely related industries are attracting better qualified candidates than similar positings on the large job boards. Some job seekers find navigating the large job boards cumbersome and time consuming. The niche oriented job boards provide highly specialized positions within the industry served by the website and thus give the job seeker an opportunity to find the position that best suits their skills and experience.