Whether you are fresh out of school or an experienced medical professional, it helps to understand what skills recruiters and hiring managers are hoping to find among potential nursing employees. Armed with this knowledge, you are able to tailor your candidacy — including your résumé and cover letter — to ensure a chance at an interview. If you decide to work with a medical staffing agency, their recruiters can prepare you for a successful job search process.

With a great new medical industry job in mind, here are the things recruiters want to see in a nursing candidate. Good luck in your efforts!

In-demand Technical Nursing Skills

There’s no denying the impact made by technology in the healthcare industry. Because of this, recruiters remain on the prowl for nursing candidates comfortable with computers as well as a whole host of specialized medical equipment, including dialysis machines. Familiarity with electronic medial records (EMR) software and quality assurance programs is another important ability for nurses.

Consider becoming certified in any of these technical nursing skills to add some heft to your résumé. Showing practical application of these abilities in a cover letter or during an interview definitely increases your chances at a job offer.

Soft Skills are also Important

Softer skills are also vital in the world of nursing. An empathic nature is a must; arguably being the most important trait for any nurse to possess. Leadership ability, especially with experienced nurses, also holds weight with many healthcare recruiters and hiring managers.

Bilingualism continues to grow in importance, and can be a requirement in certain areas of the country. Consider taking a language course to improve this part of your skill set. If interested in relocation, this ability simply gives you more options for potential employers.

Being Flexible is a Plus

Flexibility is important for all nursing candidates, but especially so if you are fresh out of school. Many hospitals or medical offices typically want nurses who are willing to work different shifts as well as regular weekend schedules. Once again, being open in this regard simply shows you are willing to help a potential employer.

Hopefully, these insights into what nursing recruiters hope to find in a candidate helps your job search end up successful.

When you need additional advice on looking for employment in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we can help take your career to the next level. Connect with us at your earliest convenience.

There’s no denying the importance of ethics for any healthcare professional. Empathy and an ethical nature rank as two of the most necessary traits for those working in the medical industry. Even when boasting a staff made up of moral and right-minded people, ethics-related policies still need to be formally defined in any healthcare establishment’s employee manual — for both legal and patient care considerations.

With creating a living document covering all relevant topics in mind, here are some ideas on how to best incorporate a code of ethics in your medical organization’s employee manual.

The Nursing Code of Ethics is a Good Start

The American Nursing Association publishes its own Nursing Code of Ethics, which serves nicely as a starting point for any medical employee manual’s ethics section. All nurses are expected to follow the ANA code in their daily work routine. Encouraging the other medical professionals at your office to do the same by including the Code in your organization’s employee manual emphasizes the importance of ethical behavior.

Consider incorporating some of the Code’s content into your job descriptions as well. Other nursing organizations publish their own ethical codes which may offer additional insights relevant to your employees.

Your Employees are Accountable for their Own Ethical Behavior

Stress the accountability each employee holds for their own behavior — both actions and words. This needs to be clearly stated in the manual, either at the front of the manual itself or in the ethics section. Additionally, any discipline policies need to be explicitly defined, so everyone knows the consequences for unethical conduct.

Formalized Definitions are a Must

Make sure your manual offers a section that formally defines any terms referenced throughout the text, including the ethics section. This helps lessen any confusion when an ethical — or legal — issue arises. Place the section in the manual’s appendix for easy access.

Leverage Ongoing Education on Ethics

Simply putting an ethics section in your employee manual isn’t enough to ensure ethical behavior in your medical office — a point echoed by Martha Turner, assistant director of ANA’s Center for Ethics and Human Rights. “Ethics, like most other disciplines, must be learned. Ethics is not intuitive or just ‘being good,” said Turner. As such, providing an ethics training program nicely compliments the contents of any employee manual.

When you need further insights on managing your medical office, talk to the knowledgeable team at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s top healthcare staffing agencies, we offer great candidates able to contribute to your team. Schedule some time with us soon!

As the medical industry continues to evolve, so do the hiring processes used to connect healthcare establishments with new employees. In fact, this changing routine of finding new workers isn’t limited to the medical world — all industries are revising their out of date HR methodologies. Because of this continued transformation, certain older practices are now considered obsolete.

With an eye towards making your medical office’s hiring efforts state of the art, here is a list of five useless hiring practices worth placing in the dustbin of history. Hopefully, this lets you streamline the entire process, ultimately making your workplace run more efficiently.

Not Prescreening Candidates

In a previous paper-laden era, HR personnel had to deal with a host of time-consuming tasks when parsing through a collection of candidates. In many cases, they would forego a detailed prescreening of applicants before deciding on whom to interview. Today’s social media-driven world allows a streamlining of this process; there is no longer any excuse for not vetting an applicant’s social networking accounts and conducting a phone screening.

Obsolete Interview Questions

Concerning the interview itself, certain time-honored questions just don’t apply in the modern era. This includes overly vague and broad queries like: “Tell me about yourself.” That kind of question isn’t specific enough to be useful and only ends up wasting valuable time.

Making an Interviewee fill out an Application Onsite

Speaking of a time-waster, making an interviewee fill out an application — paper or online — when they arrive for an interview reeks of obsolescence. Your medical office needs an application tracking system with all the candidate data stored for easy reference. Interview time needs to be focused on the interview itself.

The Gauntlet of Interviews

Subjecting a candidate to any more than two or three interviews only serves to clog up the entire process. The efficiency of your medical office suffers, as more of your team spends time conducting interviews instead of caring for patients. Lessening the number of interviews when hiring a new employee is vital!

Not Following up when the Hiring Decision is Made

A social media connected society means news travels fast. In the past, companies would sometimes fail to notify candidates who didn’t get the job. With your medical establishment’s reputation at stake, take the time to inform everyone who interviewed for a position when you make a final hiring decision.

If your medical organization needs additional insights on the hiring process, talk to the knowledgeable team at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the country’s leading healthcare industry staffing agencies, we offer great candidates able to succeed in your office or hospital. Meet with us as soon as possible.