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How to Hire Passionate Candidates for Nurse Practitioner Jobs

7 Tips to Include on Your Hiring Checklist

When hiring for nurse practitioner jobs, you want candidates who are passionate about the work they do. Candidates who love their jobs so much that they excel in the provision of care to your patients. Not only is this good care, but it is great for your business.

With increased demand for nurse practitioners (NPs) – the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts jobs growth of 45% between 2019 and 2029 – it will become increasingly difficult to hire the high-quality, caring NPs you need.

Should you be tempted to settle for candidates who just turn up for a paycheck? We think you’ll want to hire NPs who love their jobs and improve your reputation in healthcare. Here’s how to land them.

A 7-Tip Checklist for Hiring Passionate Candidates for NP Jobs

To hire passionate, caring nurse practitioners, it is important that you connect with them. Learn what makes them tick and what they desire from their job. It is also crucial to demonstrate what the candidate should expect from you –that your commitment and passion matches theirs. Here are seven tips to help you achieve this.

1.     Create a Job Description That Appeals to Your Ideal Candidate

In your job description, explain what type of employee excels with you. Detail the responsibilities of the role, and how what the candidate will be doing makes an impact on their team, their patients, and the healthcare facility. Include what makes you unique from other healthcare facilities.

2.     Explain Your Work Culture

Enthuse candidates to apply by describing your unique culture. Describe how colleagues work together, the role the management plays, and any team building that happens. Do you have sports teams that candidates could join? Is there a thriving in-work community? How is progress measured and rewarded? These are things that will help motivate potential candidates to apply.

3.     Understand the ‘Why’ of Your Candidates

The ‘why’ of a candidate tells you why they do the job. Ask questions that are designed to learn about the candidate’s nature, values, and personal mission. Questions to ask during an interview include:

  • ‘Why did you choose to enter the field of healthcare?’
  • ‘What is the thing that excites you most about your job?’
  • ‘Why do you want to work here?’
  • ‘Describe your ideal work environment.’
  • ‘Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?’

Of course, you will also interview to test the candidate’s competency and skills to fulfil the nurse practitioner job – but it is questions like these that will help you dig deep into the candidate’s character and learn their motivation.

4.     Evaluate Their Personal Goals

During the interview process, ask your applicants what their personal goals are, or what expectations they have from their lives. A passionate nurse practitioner usually has well-defined career goals. This is a vocation for them, not a paycheck. Listen to how they convey their personal goals – passionate people are excited about their potential future and what they could achieve with you.

5.     Learn If They Are Learners

Ask the candidate what they have done to advance their career. Have they benefitted from any additional training? Have they kept up with their CPD? Have they only learned what has been required of them, or have they gone out of their way to take on additional knowledge themselves? What do they know about current trends in healthcare? Are they good at managing daily stress and avoiding burnout?

Self-motivated learners are among the most passionate candidates, who are keen to learn more, advance their careers, and improve their nursing ability.

6.     Watch the Candidate’s Body Language

Body language can be the biggest clue to a candidate’s motivation and enthusiasm. Are they leaning forward, keen to hear the next question and engage in conversation?

7.     Employ a Specialist Staffing Agency

The hiring process can be lengthy, and proper vetting of candidates is essential.

As a specialist staffing agency in this sector, Palm Careers works hard to ensure that we only present the absolute best candidates – whether you are hiring for temporary/locum roles, contract, or full time.

We screen all our candidates, getting to know about them and their passion for their work. The result is that you hire passionate, caring nurse practitioners who are self-motivated learners and focused on their work.

To hire the passionate nurse practitioners who will take your organization to the next level, contact Palm Careers today.