Hospital and other healthcare facility administrators undoubtedly are aware of the much-discussed shortage of physicians, nurses and other healthcare staff. Finding qualified personnel to fill open positions and then retaining that staff continually top lists of healthcare executives’ concerns and human resources staff’s priorities. To meet these staffing needs, organizations often turn to recruiters, whether internal or external. These recruiters should not be viewed as competition to existing human resources staff, but as complementary partners in the personnel hiring process.
Overview of Staffing Shortages
Most healthcare industry predictions forecast a deficit of 40,800 to 104,900 physicians in the United States by 2030. This shortage includes an estimated shortfall of up to 43,100 primary care physicians, and up to 61,800 specialty providers, particularly in the fields of emergency medicine and psychiatry.
The staffing shortage extends to other healthcare practitioners, especially nurses. In 2012, less than five percent of hospitals experienced a 10 percent or greater shortage of nurses; in 2016, nearly 33 percent of hospitals experienced such a nursing shortage. By 2022, the United States will have a total of 1.2 million vacant nursing positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These projected vacancies are anticipated to be created in part by retirement, since nearly half of registered nurses will reach retirement age by 2020.
Not only are there not enough healthcare providers to fill available positions, staff are more likely to change positions. One recent survey of healthcare employers across the country found that the average reported turnover in healthcare jobs in 2017 was 20.6 percent, up from 15.6 percent in 2010.
Talent Acquisition vs. Recruitment vs. Human Resources
Human resources management is the overarching concept of how companies manage their employees, from recruitment to retention to termination. Human resources management includes several subsets of functions, including talent acquisition. What exactly is talent acquisition? A generally accepted definition is “a strategic approach to identifying, attracting and onboarding top talent to efficiently and effectively meet dynamic business needs.”
Talent acquisition includes recruiting activities, but it is inclusive of other strategic elements such as branding and marketing, development of a talent pipeline and more. Recruiting is a subset of talent acquisition and includes sourcing, screening, interviewing, evaluating, selecting and hiring.
Reasons to Welcome Recruiters
To address existing and projected staffing shortfalls across the entire healthcare industry, human resources departments must get creative and they must increase their ability to recruit talent. Finding, targeting and attracting the right candidates can be challenging. Partnering with professionals who specialize in recruiting helps meet those challenges more effectively and efficiently.
Successful recruiters can bring several advantages, including:
- Recruitment marketing and branding skills, key to attracting people to hard-to-fill positions and hard-to-sell locations
- Technology to target marketing to qualified candidates
- Partnerships with pipelines for talent, such as educational institutions and workforce development agencies
- Dedicated focus on finding candidates
Recruiters also can partner with human resources on onboarding new recruits, transitioning from the recruiting stage through the hiring process on to employment and reducing the likelihood of employee retention.
Adaptive Medical Partners, a premier healthcare provider recruiting firm, can help your organization with its recruiting efforts. Contact us to explore the ways we can partner together to staff your hospital, clinic or other healthcare facility with qualified providers.
