During this period of a dramatic nursing shortage that appears to be increasing each year, recruiters in the field of nursing are acknowledging the need for nurses. More and more nurses are needed to fill the vacancies that so many hospitals and clinics now have. However, with fewer applicants being accepted to qualified nursing programs, filling the void can be difficult.

Nursing agencies may have trouble filling these vacancies because of the financial constraints on nursing schools and programs, which limits the number of applicants these schools can take in. With fewer nurses graduating from these programs, there have not been enough nurses to fill the empty positions left behind by retired nurses. Another problem nursing recruiters face is presenting the job in an appealing way. With so many nurses retiring and fewer program graduates entering the field, the nurses that remain are often stretched thin in their duties. They work long, tiring hours and often care for more patients than they feel they can attend to safely. With so many nurses leaving their current positions or retiring because of job burn out, attracting more nurses to these positions can be a difficult task.

However, for the person with the right personality for the job, the outlook for nurses is bright. Since the shortage has placed nurses in such high demand, the job prospects for nurses are certainly better than many other current job opportunities. Recruiters are thus getting creative about how to attract nurses to these empty positions. They offer a variety of different opportunities to experience the world of nursing in a more creative way. Some of these opportunities include directing nurses to travel nursing agencies, which specialize in sending nurses on assignments for certain periods of time to different states. Many nurses enjoy the travel and opportunity to work in different parts of the country.

Other agencies offer contract positions so nurses interested in working in one branch of the field can do so for a short period of time. Still recruiters look for other ways to attract nurses. In fact, they may look overseas and recruit nurses from countries like Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. Attracting nurses from other countries to fill the void of nurses in the United States is one way in which these staffing agencies are becoming creative.