According to Deveran George, director of talent management and physician recruitment, WVU Medicine is more than halfway to its goal, with a total of 1,783 nurses as of last week. The recruiting effort runs through the end of the year.
Some of the nurses hired will staff a new 10-story tower at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, slated to open in January. WVU officials have estimated that the expansion will create about 750 new jobs.
Other nursing incentives include flexible scheduling, weekend incentive pay, a per diem program, voluntary reassignment, re-evaluation of compensation every six months and continuing education, according to WVU Medicine’s website.
Monongalia General Hospital is also offering sign-on bonuses, but a spokeswoman said the facility’s vacancy rate has not significantly changed.
Employment projections released by the federal Bureau of Labor in 2013 indicate that the number of RNs nationwide will increase from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022, an increase of 526,800 or 19 percent. The total number of job openings for nurses, including industry growth and needed replacements, is expected to rise to 1.05 million by 2022.