New Grad RN Job Search, Reboot Recruiting Strategy, & Expanding Telemedicine

This blog post by Nacole Riccaboni offered some good tips for how newly graduated registered nurses can improve their resumes by emphasizing the experiences they have gained in training.

Since you have no bedside nursing experience, your resume should be filled with nursing school experience and exposures. Did you do your practicum on an oncology floor or pediatric burn unit? How many clinical hours did you have on the cardiac or medical-surgical floor? Mention these opportunities and the aspects of care you performed, such as assessment, procedures, etc.

This is your version of nursing experience and you should leave nothing to the imagination. Be specific, detailed and paint the full picture of what nursing skills you possess. If you're in nursing associations, have obtained certifications or have received awards, list these achievements as well, to set yourself apart from other applicants.

Forbes.com offers tips for rebooting your recruiting process

Some of these tips aren't exactly revolutionary, such as tips about posting online and optimizing for mobile. However, the tips (and reasons behind them) about broadening or eliminating some qualifications might be worth your consideration.

If we had to name a No. 1 job search gripe, the long list of impossible requirements might just be it. Candidates get excited about a position, only to find a dozen or more requirements—and when, inevitably, they don’t meet every one, they get discouraged and move on. As the recruiter, it’s your responsibility to tackle this problem. Start by scanning your list of requirements and deciding which ones you can safely broaden. For example, don’t require specific certifications for proof of technical skills. Many job seekers have skills they haven’t been officially certified for which they would gladly demonstrate, given the chance. Another overly specific requirement is the time horizon. It’s supposed to indicate mastery, but often doesn’t. Under a “minimum five years of leadership experience” criterion, a part-time shift leader of five years could apply for an upper management position, but a startup owner who’s successfully managed eight employees for three years would be discouraged from applying, even if her experience actually better fits the level of responsibility required. Instead of specifying time limits, ask for “proven leadership expertise” and then scan applicant resumes to see who’s cut out for the position.

Medpage Today wrote about how employers are turning to telemedicine as a way to cut insurance costs.

It seems that we've been hearing about how telemedicine is about to really take off for quite some time now, but if big business, big money, is getting behind the idea then maybe the time for telemedicine really has arrived.

The great appeal of telemedicine is that it comes at a lower cost than other care access points, Marcotte said. An emergency visit costs an average $700 per visit, urgent care $150, and a physician office visit $100. A telemedicine session? About $40....

...The focus on delivery comes because efficiencies on the front end have been pretty much exhausted. Employers have realized that once you go to a high deductible health plan, there's not much more you can do to save money on the plan design, Marcotte said.

A few tweaks here and there maybe, but nothing that really makes a difference.

"You really have to train your sights on the delivery system if you want to drive efficiencies and control healthcare costs," he said.