The hard truth about the healthcare industry is that it is understaffed. The amount of nursing and allied health educators and administrators is not enough to cater to the needs of the increasing retiring population. Finding, hiring, and retaining new skilled nurse educators and administrators continues to happen. The challenge becomes even more daunting when a university lacks the budget to recruit the most qualified candidates.

It may be difficult to hire the nursing instructors you need because of certain factors such as budget, but you can always find the people you need eventually. Here are some helpful tips in recruiting skilled nurse educators in your area:

• Search through an ERP (Employee Referral Program). This tool is effective. Your present staff may have family members or friends who might be fit for the job openings in your institution. You can reward the employees whose referred candidates are hired.

• Ask your exceptional former employees if they want to come back and work in your institution again. It is often hard to find great nursing instructors. There is no harm in asking former employees if they would want to come back to your institution.

• Ask your present employees to help. Ask your present hires to list names of former colleagues with whom they enjoyed working in the past. Use conferences or various professional gatherings to look for qualified nursing staff.

• Keep an eye out for talented new nurses in certification courses. Certification courses always have new nurses who stand out above the others. Make sure you take down their names and call them if they are interested in working as adjunct or full-time faculty.

• Let other nurse faculty interview the new applicants. Nurses understand each other, so if they interview applicants, they can easily spot those who can do good work at your institution. If the applicants do make it, it will be easier for them to work, knowing they are around the nurses who interviewed them.

• Past applicants may have the employee you need. Always keep those past application forms handy. You’ll never know if they have the referrals that could complete the roster.