The Corona virus pandemic has transformed the entire structure of job industries, but probably none more than healthcare. This has caused a spike in the demand for many healthcare professionals, especially nurses. Doctors and nurses serve their patients diligently. However, as much respect healthcare professionals get, some are not highly regarded and recognised for their hard work such as nursing assistants. Unfortunately, nursing assistants are an underappreciated occupation in healthcare but are one of the most crucial ones as this expert tends to all the needs of the patients. What’s important to remember here is the fact that the job of a certified nursing assistant is immensely challenging: long working hours combined with the physical, emotional, and psychological demands of this job can exhaust the certified nursing assistants (CNAs) completely.
It is paramount to attract and recruit the finest candidates who are careful, meticulous, and have the potential to deal with the difficulties associated with this profession. The nursing assistant shall be spending excessive time with different patients and requires everything from physical to mental strength.
Since having a nursing assistant holds great significance, here’s presenting you a guide on how to hire a certified nursing assistant.
1. Sell yourself
The first step to hiring the best Certified Nursing Assistant is to convince the target audience that your facility is the best. Think about what sets it apart from other competitors. It is essential to offer nursing assistant facilities that they will not necessarily find at other workplaces. While financial rewards are always a win, there are other ways as well such as accessible locations. If the workplace is easily reachable by public transportation or within walking distance of different residential neighbourhoods then use this strength to convince the targeted nurses.
Another way to sell your facility could be upward mobility. If the workplace is willing to train up and assist, certify unlicensed nurses and recent graduates, or if there are discounted or free education facilities available, be sure to include these benefits as well. Other factors that may appeal to the potential nurses include :
- Decent working hours.
- Comprehensive health insurance.
- A good retirement plan.
- Paid vacation time.
- Proper training and regular feedback.
Hence, to hire the best CNAs, it’s vital to update the audience with the hospital’s strengths, benefits, and USP. The reputation of the healthcare facility is often more significant than offering the highest salaries. So, attract nursing assistants by convincing them that the hospital they are planning to work with is reputable and has a history of providing excellent care and service to its patients.
2.Create and Post Your Job Listing
After deciding the strengths of your healthcare facility, the creation of the job post is the next step. To make an impactful job post, highlight the key aspects of the hospital, placing special emphasis on why certified nursing assistants should be working with you. Mention all the responsibilities of the designation, along with the skills, characteristics, qualifications, and certifications all potential candidates should possess.
There are multiple examples of CNA listings accessible online. While job responsibilities and job requirements are pretty direct, it is essential to spread the word to survive in this competitive environment. Just selling yourself isn’t enough, Its also esssential to spread the words to all the major job sites like Indeed, Monster, or LinkedIn.
Apart from this, post on certain nursing-specific job platforms as well such as connectRN.com, nursingjobs.com, careervitals.com, etc. The potential employees will always be interested in reading many different job listings and choose the one that stands out.
3. Shortlist the Applicants
Before jumping on the interviewing bandwagon, always remember to shortlist the deserving candidates so the unqualified ones can be excluded from the list. An easy way to do this through sending an email asking a few simple questions such as:
-When and where was the training completed?
-How long have they been a certified nursing assistant?
-Where have they worked or where did they complete their internship?
-Are they ready to work early and late shifts, including weekends?
-Do they possess any additional certifications related to the position?
4. Interview and hire your CNA
After the selection of potential applicants, it’s time to recruit and hire the deserving nursing assistant. With continued social distancing due to the pandemic, it’s paramount to keep the interviewing and the onboarding process intact. Video interviews and mobile training are the new standard operating procedures for many healthcare facilities to reduce the unnecessary spread.
Today, text messaging links to training materials and videos are gradually being accepted and used more relatively.However, a face-to-face interview can be conducted in normal conditions. This is a critical stage when recruiting a CNA. Pay special attention to the candidate’s professionalism and the respect they give to their profession. Observe and judge whether they speak sincerely and are motivated enough to pursue their career. Also, whether they are passionate enough to help others. Ask them questions related to emotional resilience, mental strength, patience, and compassion, along with those that test their skills and general preparedness for the position.
Being a nursing assistant may be an underappreciated profession. It is an extremely critical one in a healthcare institution. A nursing assistant is responsible for major work for her patients thus he/she needs to be someone who can deal with the challenges of this profession.