The process of recruiting nursing faculty has changed in recent years because most nursing schools are experiencing a shortage of qualified candidates. A poll from 2004 and again in 2010 show today that there is a 11.4% drop in the amount of the new nurses. Because of this drop in new talent, many nursing programs are trying to compete with other nursing schools for recruiting nursing faculty and are using many new techniques to improve their recruiting processes. Times do change and since it is becoming harder and harder to attract new nursing instructors, they are starting to think outside of the box. Many universities are turning to social media to get the job done in order to attract new faculty of all kinds.

 While this can pose a challenge, it doesn’t have to be as daunting as it seems. A lot of nursing schools are setting up LinkedIn accounts. If they do choose to set up a LinkedIn account in the attempt to attract new nurse educators, there are some things that they should make sure to include in the group. First of all, make it easy to apply; many applicants will get frustrated if it’s a hard process and move on to somewhere that has it set up to be easier. The college should attempt to keep their requests down to basic information only. The entire process should take under 5 minutes for the initial contact.

 The nursing school should make sure they keep their LinkedIn group focused on what they are looking for. Many groups have a lot of off-topic posts or a lot of advertising that has nothing to do with what the user is looking for. Others will allow members to post whatever they want without any real structure or guidance. The university should make sure to set the rules up to reflect what they are looking for including restricting certain actions. Some groups turn off their advertisements so that users don’t have that distraction.

 Either way, the nursing school should make the group as user-friendly as possible, so the user has an optimal experience. After all, the goal of the university is to attract nurse educators and administrators as long-term employees. They hope to fill their nursing school staffing needs and expand their talent pool. With all the advancements being made in technology today, nursing schools should think outside the box when reaching out to future employees. The use of a LinkedIn accounts has the potential to help the nursing program solve part of their staffing challenges.