10 Steps To Hiring: Dynamic Professionals For A Wound Care Program

In an outpatient wound center or an inpatient wound care program where specific skills are necessary and staff numbers are small, hiring the right person becomes a crucial test of the manager’s knowledge, skill, and experience.

What happens when the right person for the position is found? For starters, training costs are reduced, turnover is lower, and compatibility with existing staff is enhanced.
However, what happens if the wrong person is chosen? Other staff may become resistant, morale drops, patient care may be compromised, turnover rises, training costs rise, and life for the manager can become a headache.

Some people believe that finding the right person to work in a wound care clinic is ‘dumb luck’ or that ‘they will just know if it’s the right person.’ Most managers tend to assume that because they are in healthcare; they are good judges of character. Yet, no matter how good of a judge of character any professional is, there is much more to the process.
Linda Miller, vice president of Quality and Education for (Wound Partners, LLC, Louisville, Ky) explains there are 10 steps her company has used over the years that can increase the chances of finding that best-fit person.

1) Assess Position Need And Organization As A Whole
When someone has left a position, it’s generally assumed that the position needs to be filled. That might be the case, but the questions to ask are:
A) Is everyone else as busy and productive as they might be?
B) Is there any excess capacity?
C) Are there employees whose skills are not being fully utilized?
D) And is there anyone who is having difficulty with their skill set or tasks who might need to be supplemented?

2) Develop Skill List
Some hospitals and programs choose to have an all-professional nursing staff. While an admirable goal, is it completely necessary or cost effective? In determining what the job duties are in need of filling, consider what duties an LPN or medical assistant might manage safely and efficiently. RNs are needed for nursing assessment, nursing diagnosis, and case management, but how much of their time is spent on non-essential paperwork, phone calls, or tasks such as cleaning and preparing exam rooms, patient set up, removing dressings, checking vital signs, wound measurement and photography, filing, and administrative medical record management?

3) Develop Job Description
Of course, follow hospital policy about job description requirements and format, but now you know what the essential duties are. Write these as though they will be used for a performance evaluation and that makes the review of candidates for the position as well as review of employees currently in the position much easier.

4) Determine Compensation
Pay scales and compensation policies may already have helped make that decision, but if any changes to the position are made it helps to look at this again. Salary must provide adequate incentive and be comparable and equitable with similar positions in the system.

5) Recruit
If the HR department already has a procedure and recruiting process, things are probably in good shape. If not, consider whether to seek candidates through the Internet, newspaper, recruiters, job fairs or word-of-mouth. Good applicants often are referred by existing employees so don’t rule it out.

6) Initial Screening
The HR department will likely review the resumes, select those candidates that best match the qualifications stated in the job description, and perhaps conduct telephone pre-screening interviews. The person conducting the interviews will select the top candidates and send those resumes to the medical director and/or the hiring manager for review. If there are five extremely good candidates to interview, this will be a great recruiting process. (One may choose to interview all top candidates, but should consider interviewing no less than three candidates.)

7) Interviews
Tailor the interview to the job. Use the job responsibilities and analyze the candidates to measure if they have the qualities needed to perform the job. Let the candidate do the talking so as to initiate personal contact. It’s important that the chemistry with the candidate, the company, and the on-site team are compatible. Listening allows the interviewer to see the whole person and not just the capabilities to perform a task. Using well-designed questions and well-developed listening skills, explore the candidate’s propensity to carry out the job responsibilities particularly with regard to the appropriate level of compassion and commitment to productivity the staff is seeking.

8) References
HR conducts reference checks, verification of licensure (if applicable), and a personality profile test to ascertain whether the candidate has those traits that make the greatest contribution to the overall success of the team. Profiles also provide additional information about the candidate that can be used in the interview process. It is neither a process to eliminate nor to include candidates but does give insight and preferences about candidates. Because of the expense, the top candidates only complete the profile.

9) Second Interview
A second interview with the two final candidates should be conducted to make the final decision. The most critical consideration when bringing a new employee into the organization is ensuring the selection will support the center’s reputation for being the wound patient’s most effective alternative. The program’s reputation is multi-faceted and includes not only superior clinical capabilities but also the caring support provided by all of the staff members. This support addresses such issues as patient comfort, potential anxiety, as well as financial and social concerns. Encouraging a patient’s enthusiasm to continue treatment is essential. Employees must be compassionate and in touch with various patient concerns. They must address these concerns with understanding and the application of solid people skills. These attributes generally are not readily extracted from a resume and must be assessed through skillful interviewing.

10) The Offer
Once the final candidate is selected, the salary is determined (in consultation with HR) and a verbal offer is extended. If the candidate is considering the offer and perhaps ready to accept it, HR often drafts the offer letter and mails it to the selected candidate. The medical director and/or the hiring manager are informed when the offer is accepted and the candidate starts the required paperwork.
Once the new employee is on board, the organization must create the most advantageous environment so that person can excel. The orientation program, which includes a mentoring or shadowing process, can be extremely helpful in this endeavor. It helps the employee fit-in and the organization to tailor the initial stages of training for the benefit of both the employee and the organization’s needs.
Although the hiring process can prove to be tedious and even expensive at times, there is no doubt that the initial effort spent to find the right person will be extremely beneficial to everybody in the long-run.

This article was edited and critiqued by Bella Cibella, VP of Implementation for Wound Partners, LLC, Louisville, Ky.

Linda Miller, RN, BSN is Vice President of Quality & Education for Wound Partners, LLC. She has more than 16 years of wound management operations experience. She is based in Tampa, Fla and can be reached for questions or consultations via her email address at lmiller@woundpartners.com or via phone at (813) 997-2512.