Nurses can be found virtually anywhere you can think of, including many public service fields. They hold a vast array of responsibilities in their mission of patient care, including checking vitals, updating paperwork, performing blood transfusions, administering medication, or any number of tasks depending on their specialty.
Beyond physical tasks like those listed above, nurses are experts at patient counseling. They comfort, advise, and listen to patients, and many nurses even go above and beyond, like when a group of nurses set up prom in the hospital for a teenage patient or when a surgery nurse snuggled a little boy because his mother couldn’t be there.
But being a nurse isn’t all hugs and smiles—they must provide life-saving aid while bound to strict schedules and long hours. They must maintain professionalism at all times, even hiding tears when patients breathe their last. It’s a heavy burden, but one that nurses because of their dedication to their community.
We know that hiring nurses can sometimes feel as difficult as the graveyard shift at the ER, which is why we’ve provided this guide to help you find the best nurses for your healthcare needs.
Job details: Our mission at Cedar Ridge Clinic is to take care of our patients and our amazing staff. We strive to make each workday better than the last, which we achieve thanks to our amazing nurses, physicians, and other clinic staff members. We also offer a competitive benefits package and monthly staff challenges to encourage you to keep the joy in your job.
We are looking for an experienced LPN who will work one-on-one with physicians to provide patient care. They will be responsible for assisting patients and establishing a trusting and friendly relationship with providers. This role is perfect for LPNs who love working with families in a routine environment where they can establish long-lasting relationships.
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About the company: Cedar Ridge Clinic has been supporting families around Anacortes, WA, since 2001. Our founder wanted to create a clinic that felt like home, which has earned us our Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service for the past 10 years. Our clinic is truly like no other with staff members who love coming to work and healthcare professionals who care. No matter your medical dilemma, we’re committed to providing the care you need when you need it. Welcome home to Cedar Ridge Clinic!
Job details: Rocky Summit Rescue is committed to providing professional and top-quality medical care. We bring the best rapid response critical care to all patients in any situation. No matter the incident, you can count on RSR to be there for you and your loved ones.
Our aeromedical evacuation nurse will work on one of our BK117-B2 helicopters to provide medical services under extreme conditions and high stress. They will care for patients of all ages and abilities before, during, and immediately after transport to the nearest medical facility. They must be proficient and experienced in trauma medicine as well as familiar with aerospace medical practices and procedures. Most of all, they must have a clear head and a strong leadership ability to take charge when things go wrong.
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Benefits: We provide a competitive benefits package for 20+ hours weekly.
About the company: Rocky Summit Rescue was founded in 1957 in Boulder, CO. We are proud to be part of the MRA but even prouder to be part of our community. We partner with local medical facilities and volunteers to save lives and provide top-tier emergency medical care to patients of all ages. Our team is comprised of experienced professionals who love their co-workers and their job. We love it when our community is accident-free, but when incidents happen, count on RSR to come to your rescue.
Job details: St. Maisha Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital committed to providing world-class care to our community. We believe everyone deserves high-quality healthcare regardless of cost, so we hold ourselves to the highest standard possible. These standards reflect our performance in our ICU; our ICU staff members effectively serve our patients with love and compassion when they are with us.
Our ICU nurse will attend to each patient’s needs with an emphasis on safe and compassionate care. They will leverage prior nursing experience to partner with healthcare personnel to create and carry out treatment plans for each patient per ICU rules & regulations.
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About the company: St. Maisha Hospital was founded in McFarland, CA, in 1987 to provide professional healthcare at no cost to the community. We are a non-profit funded by churches across the United States. We thank each one of our sponsors for their generosity, so we can continue providing our community with quality healthcare.
We are proud to have been Modern Healthcare’s “Best Places to Work” in 2017 and 2018, and we’ve ranked in the top 25 of Nursing Professionals’ “Top 100 Hospitals” for the past 15 years. We’ve also been voted the best healthcare facility in CA in 2021 according to Best Reader’s Choice Poll from TBC Media.
Imagine trying to care for a patient when the only instruction you’re given is to “take care of patients.” It sounds nice—until you realize you have no idea what that means. What’s wrong with the patient, what equipment and resources are at your disposal, and what has been done for their care in the past?
Unfortunately, most nursing job descriptions are sparse and vague. They don’t explain the specifics of the job or why the organization is hiring in the first place. Since your job description is your first interaction with your new nurse, it’s important to get it right. Take the time for due diligence, and give the right information in the right dosage.
One of the cornerstones of good job descriptions is specificity, especially when it comes to why you’re hiring. Don’t write a one-sentence nursing job description. (And yes, we have seen this!)
Get to the heart of the issue instead. Is the ER short-staffed during the night shift? Do you have a specialized clinic and require an RN to work with patients daily? Does your hospital have a temporary need for an ICU nurse? Give nurses context, so they know what they’re up against.
You’ve got your reason for hiring and the general guideline of specificity. Now what? Follow a nurse’s example, and take the process one step at a time in the proper order.
The first step is getting words on the page. Start with one section at a time, beginning wherever you’re most familiar. Jot down the bare minimum until you have a solid outline. Then circle back and continue adding details to each section until it’s complete.
Keep in mind, “complete” doesn’t mean “long.” Your job description should neither be just a paragraph nor pages and pages long. Just like how too much medicine is a disaster waiting to happen, too much information can ward off applicants, so give only the information your new nurse needs.
You have the essentials—now it’s time to make it shine. Eliminate anything irrelevant, and replace vague statements with concrete information. Nurses pay strict attention to details, so your details should be unique, accurate, and honest.
You should also examine your tone. Nurses are honest and empathetic, which should be reflected in your job description. Being overly formal will only turn away applicants since it can come across as uncaring and sterile.
After content revision, send out your job description for feedback. Healthcare professionals often seek second opinions, so you should, too. Have a few coworkers read through it, and if you can, ask the opinion of a few nurses who work in the department of your future new nurse. Have them think critically about readability, content, and flow.
With constructive criticism in hand, make the needed edits. Then, just as nurses customize their treatment for each patient, tailor your formatting so your job description looks attractive and professional on every job board.
All that’s left is to hit “submit” and celebrate—you’re that much closer to hiring! Soon enough, you’ll have a stack of nurse resumes awaiting your perusal.
Hard time organizing your thoughts? Use the outline below to structure your nursing job description to include everything you need.
Job details: Also called an introduction or summary, this is where you’ll give context: what healthcare organization you work for, why you’re hiring, and whom you’ll be hiring. Be brief and concise.
What you’ll be doing/Roles/Responsibilities/Requirements: Just like drugs have names aplenty, this section can be called many things but will always have the same goal: telling the applicant what they’ll do on the job. Although nurses complete many tasks in a day, you don’t have to list them all. Some responsibilities can be lumped together in umbrella statements.
Just don’t rely too heavily on experience to summarize the requirements. Only listing “2 years experience as an RN” is lazy, unprofessional, and not helpful in providing a complete picture of your needs. If you’re fumbling to hit a balance between general and specific, take a look at some of our examples below.
Qualifications: Nursing can be a very niche field with positions for every healthcare concern imaginable: forensic nurses, geriatric nurses, nurse educators, clinical nurse midwives, and more. Each position requires different experience and certifications, so don’t skimp on qualifications. Nurses need to know exactly what’s needed for the specific role—no more, no less.
Benefits: Nursing can be an extremely unforgiving job, but adding a benefits section reassures your future nurses they’ll be looked after just as well as their patients. When listing a salary (or hourly pay), use a range, as it allows you flexibility based on your new hire’s experience and credentials.
About the company: Here’s where you can describe more about your organization, but don't overdo it. Anything longer than two quick paragraphs is overkill. Future nurses do need to know the culture of your institution, but they don’t need to know your whole history at this exact time. Always remember you’re writing this job description for the applicant’s benefit, not to sound perfect for the press or public relations.
In a single day, nurses may wipe tears, administer pain medication, take measurements, comfort families, recommend tests, consult physicians, set up or clean treatment rooms, fetch items, and far more. They are educators, healers, comforters, cleaners—the seemingly tireless who always have a smile. Nursing isn’t for the faint of heart or body.
If you need inspiration for what to include in your nursing job description, check out the functions below to get an idea of what nurses do daily. Not all nurses will take on all of these roles, but it’s a good way to get started.
Educator
Communicator
Counselor
Patient advocate
Planner
Team member