Nurse Practitioner: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a nurse practitioner?

A nurse practitioner is an integral part of your healthcare team. They often work as a mentor, administrator and educator for your other healthcare employees. They are experienced professionals who have great knowledge of diagnosis and treatment, which they can use to advise your patients. They are able to make autonomous decisions regarding your patient’s health, and so play a key role alongside your doctors in the process of problem-solving and diagnosis. 

Qualities of a great nurse practitioner:

• Keeping your patient records up to date
  
• Providing ongoing care to your patients, guiding them through healthcare decisions, preventive approaches and lifestyle decisions
  
• Using scientific knowledge to review your patient test results, providing feedback and follow-up appointments

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance nurse practitioner

Recruiting a nurse practitioner on a locum contract basis is useful if you need to cover the shifts of a permanent nurse practitioner who is on holiday, sick leave or parental leave. If you find that your practice is short staffed for any other reason or that workloads are high, these are all good reasons to consider a freelance nurse practitioner.

However, it is recommended to recruit at least one nurse practitioner as part of your team on a full-time basis, as patients will often become familiar with your staff over time. They might find it easier to discuss their health with members of staff who they already know well. Some patients may also prefer to share health information with a nurse practitioner rather than a doctor. 

What are the different types of nurse practitioner?

Which kind of nurse practitioner you will need to hire depends on the focus of your clinic or practice. You should also consider the level of managerial and decision-making experience that you require from a nurse practitioner in your clinic. If you are looking to build a new team, you may wish to take on more junior nurse practitioners who are looking to gain on-the-job clinical experience. However, if you need someone to help more with the administration and running of your nurse practitioner team, you will need to look for someone with more experience. 

• Primary Care Nurse Practitioner: A primary care nurse practitioner is the first point of contact for your patients, providing day-to-day care services.
• Emergency Nurse Practitioner: An emergency nurse practitioner provides unscheduled care to patients as part of an emergency unit.
• Senior Nurse Practitioner: A senior nurse practitioner is an experienced practitioner who provides managerial support to a team of nurses, and finalises key decisions.
• Mental Health Nurse Practitioner: A mental health nurse practitioner provides ongoing support to patients and their families with mental health concerns.
• Surgical Nurse Practitioner: A surgical nurse practitioner plays a key role in decision-making and problem-solving alongside surgical doctors, usually as part of an emergency unit.

Where to find a nurse practitioner?

To find the right nurse practitioner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Networking with medical schools: Find graduate nurse recruits by attending medical school conferences and job fairs.
• Networking at medical conferences and events: This gives you the chance to meet potential candidates face to face.
• Searching the Nursing & Midwifery Council register: Searching this register will help you to find registered nurse practitioners.
• Advertising on your clinic’s website: Post a job description with contact details and an application form on your clinic’s website.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a nurse practitioner on Indeed to find and attract quality nurse practitioner candidates.

Skills to look for in a great nurse practitioner

A great candidate for a nurse practitioner role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• attention to detail
• a scientific approach to healthcare
• great communication skills
• a methodical, scientific approach to diagnosis and patient care
• listening skills

Writing a nurse practitioner job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified nurse practitioner candidates. A nurse practitioner job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a nurse practitioner, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for nurse practitioners, according to Indeed data:

• nurse
• advanced nurse practitioner
• nurse practitioner
• nhs
• practice nurse
• assistant practitioner
• nursing
• registered nurse

Interviewing nurse practitioner candidates

Strong candidates for nurse practitioner positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• nursing training
• diagnosis
• ability to respond quickly to situations
• ability to handle difficult or distressed patients
• organisational and time management skills

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of nurse practitioner interview questions for examples (with sample answers).