What are hospitals doing for recruiting new nurses?

Just wondering what hospitals are doing to recruit new nurses to their facilities. Currently my hospital has been hiring travelers to help support the lack of nurses while new residents who take 4-6 months to orientate are being hired. Hoping to get some good ideas to help support a letter I'm writing to the President and VP of Nursing and Patient Care Services. Need your ideas. Also wondering what other hospitals are doing to help keep staff who are burnt out and working extra shifts because of being short staffed. Thanks in advance for all the comments.
I haven't seen a contract nurse on my floor in a year. I am personally swamped with new grads asking me how to get a job at my hospital. I would imagine if you post your facility name and the fact that they are hiring you will get an impressive response.

I think travelers are the best option, also consider per diem staff. I find that staff are eager to work extra shifts when there are extra financial incentives.

If there are new staff hired who are in orientation, then staffing issues should ease in the next few months. Good on your hospital for hiring travelers to help out. Many places would have you rely on the in-hospital staffing pool or mandatory overtime.I remember several years back seeing full page ads in the paper advertising nursing positions, sign on bonuses, new graduate programs, retention bonuses, but those seem to be gone for a while.

When I started nursing school, we heard all about luncheons that a particular local hospital put on to "court" our graduates. Not anymore. My hospital flat out doesn't hire new grads anymore, and a nurse recruiter from the biggest hospital in our state told me that they get an unbelievable number of new grad applications each day for experienced RN positions. It's tough out there. So basically nothing around here or at my work at this point.

I don't know of any hospitals that are recruiting new grads. They don't need to around here. The days of being sought after are over, now you're just a body to fill a hole. If it does t work out its I big loss to them as there are plenty of others who want to fill that spot. It sucks.

I haven't seen hospitals in my area actively trying to recruit in YEARS. When I was a new grad six years ago, I attended a new grad information session/hiring fair at my (now former) hospital. That was, I do believe, the last time they had such an event. The new grad program was suspended from the fall of 2008 through the summer of 2011 and though they have hired new grads in the past year and a half, they are not actively recruiting nor are they interested in easing the burden of current staff. There is a huge surplus of nurses in my area... so much so that it seems that the hospitals WANT their experienced nurses to leave only to replace them with cheaper new grads if they fill the open position at all.

In Houston, two of the bigger hospitals have job fairs, and my dad kept getting recruitment letters from both. He also gets recruitment letters from Georgia O.o; -- I highly doubt my father will be leaving Texas for Georgia. The job fairs don't cater to new grads though. They'll have to wait for the residencies or look outside of Houston. I don't know about here in Little Rock. I will say there are a lot more positions for new grads here than in Houston when you look on their websites.

Quote from KelRN215There is a huge surplus of nurses in my area... so much so that it seems that the hospitals WANT their experienced nurses to leave only to replace them with cheaper new grads if they fill the open position at all.

I am actually scared (truthfully, my husband moreso than me) that I may one day need hospitalization in one of our local hospitals. The experienced nurses are disappearing, replaced by new grads with little-to-no experience and in many cases, equally-matching loyalty and compassion. It's a job, period.When a loved one was recently hospitalized, our family members and close friends took turns staying at the bedside. It wasn't to visit him, it was to PROTECT him. Daily questioning of nurses and aides revealed that NONE of them knew why he was there, what his diet was supposed to be (or cared to check when we DAILY complained it wasn't right--and it was a very real problem, not just a preference). Fluids not right. Meds not right. And on and on.Bottom line is, everyone took the stance that "I've only been here since X o'clock" and "someone will fix it". Later. Tonight. In the morning. Anytime that it wasn't their own shift, apparently.And the most experienced nurse on that floor, I was able to find out through my own connections, has five years....and is expected to leave soon.I fear for all of us.

Quote from RNsRWeI am actually scared (truthfully, my husband moreso than me) that I may one day need hospitalization in one of our local hospitals. The experienced nurses are disappearing, replaced by new grads with little-to-no experience and in many cases, equally-matching loyalty and compassion. It's a job, period.When a loved one was recently hospitalized, our family members and close friends took turns staying at the bedside. It wasn't to visit him, it was to PROTECT him. Daily questioning of nurses and aides revealed that NONE of them knew why he was there, what his diet was supposed to be (or cared to check when we DAILY complained it wasn't right--and it was a very real problem, not just a preference). Fluids not right. Meds not right. And on and on.Bottom line is, everyone took the stance that "I've only been here since X o'clock" and "someone will fix it". Later. Tonight. In the morning. Anytime that it wasn't their own shift, apparently.And the most experienced nurse on that floor, I was able to find out through my own connections, has five years....and is expected to leave soon.I fear for all of us.

Quote from jrwestI bet there's more truth to that comment than you may realize.The majority of nurses on my floor now have under two years experience.

It's so odd how its going both ways...some hospitals want nothing to do with new grads, others want to replace experienced staff with them...I never thought about newer nurses making less so some hospitals want to employ them in droves until I has my baby fall 2011 in a very high regarded hospital in our area. Every single nurse from L&D to the mother baby unit was definitely under 35, most my age, around 24-25. What was weird is that I said sure to nursing students being my nurse for the day and they were all in their 40's and 50's...it was like a alternate universe lol.