Help keep and reach nurses

Healthcare marketers often find themselves working with human resources departments to help with hiring initiatives at their organizations. Something that’s especially challenging for many hospitals and health systems is how to handle nursing shortages. One wise strategy: Turn a print publication or your digital content (or both) into a hiring and retention tool.

Marketers Coffey partners with are doing just that with content that celebrates their current nurses and targets potential hires who are looking to join a supportive team with values that align with theirs. Here are three such strategies.

Honor your nurses. Grande Ronde Hospital (GRH) in La Grande, Oregon, recently devoted an entire issue of their Life and Health community magazine to their nursing staff. The front-page photo and cover story honored their nurses and highlighted bedside care. It also listed many specialty areas where nurses can work at GRH. These are great ways to celebrate and recognize the current nursing staff while also connecting with potential hiring candidates in the community.

Use nurse-authored columns and profiles. Inviting nurses to write columns (or having a writer interview your nurses and write a column for or about them) is a great way to promote the nursing profession and your hospital as a special place to work. It shines a much-deserved spotlight on the nursing care at your organization and delivers word-of-mouth marketing that could help you reach candidates.

Tell your why on your website. New York state-based Oswego Health has a robust careers section on their website. One article features real nurses who describe how much they love the work-life balance, professional growth opportunities and workplace culture. The content helps tell the story of their independent healthcare system, describes the perks of working there and shows prospective nurses what a great hospital system they’ll be working for.