How to Recruit Nurses to a Rural Hospital

Rural hospitals do a remarkable amount with very little. They treat patients, coordinate care, fix the fax machine and shovel the sidewalk, and somehow still find time to smile. But when it comes to recruiting, many feel outmatched. Candidates are not just comparing them to the hospital down the road. They are comparing them to large health systems, travel contracts, outpatient roles and even non-clinical careers.

I have spent more than a decade in healthcare staffing, and I spend a lot of time with rural hospital leaders, including audiences like the TORCH/TARHC Fall Conference in Texas and the Rural Health Association of Utah. The rural organizations that recruit well have one thing in common. They stop trying to look bigger.

Your differences are your advantage

Rural healthcare often focuses on what the big systems have that it does not. But the things that make rural work different can become the reason someone chooses you.

Know why your best nurses chose you

If I asked you to describe your best nurse, where they came from, why they chose you and why they stayed, could you describe it clearly? If you cannot describe it, you cannot replicate it. Talk to the nurses who have stayed the longest and the ones who joined most recently. Their reasons are your recruiting message. See Stay Interview Questions.

Read your reviews

If you want to know why people leave or what candidates are looking for, do not guess. Read your online reviews. Former and current employees will tell you exactly what is broken and what they value. And respond to them. If your reviews have not been answered in years, candidates may assume nobody is listening.

Tell stories, not just openings

A posting that says you are hiring gives nobody a reason to choose you. A story about a nurse who has stayed for fifteen years because her manager worked with her schedule and her team had her back on hard nights does. Share real moments regularly where candidates look. See How to Use Employee Stories to Recruit and How to Write Job Postings That Attract the Right Candidates.

Grow your own, and keep them

Many of the most successful rural hospitals build their own pipeline: partnering with local schools and colleges, supporting CNAs and LPNs who want to become RNs, and offering scholarships tied to staying in the community. And the best recruiting strategy is still retention. Every nurse you keep is one you do not have to find. See Nurse Retention Strategies and How Much Does Nurse Turnover Cost?

I speak to rural hospitals and healthcare associations about keeping good people in You Are Capable of a Better Culture and about patient experience in The Power of Small Moments. See also Rural Healthcare Speaker.