Nov. 14—With staffing shortages continuing everywhere, recruiters at Mosaic Life Care are exploring different ways to hire employees critical to keeping the community safe and healthy.
Kinsey Wardlow, a sourcing recruiter at Mosaic, said one technique being employed is specializing in social media as a way to connect with those in the job market.
"We are kind of changing gears and giving the why ... 'Why do I want to be here? Why are your caregivers better than at St Luke's or at North Kansas City?' So really, the why, why this job, why Mosaic," Wardlow said. "We are utilizing TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, obviously Facebook and Snapchat. We're finding that different demographics are on different platforms. And so we're really trying to target those groups of people."
According to 2022 statistics published by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, Mosaic was considered the largest employer in St. Joseph with 3,212 employees. In the previous year, the health system was reported to have 3,762 employees.
Dominique Bigelow, a nurse recruiter at Mosaic, said that although shortages are taking place, employees have worked together to get through these times.
"Mosaic has a wonderful team. Of course, in all of our areas those shortages are real, but we really do work really well as a team to address what issues are presenting," Bigelow said. "And our caregivers' voice really does matter and ... when they give us ideas or feedback, we really do take that to heart and we want to make things better."
There has been a reported physician shortage since the COVID-19 pandemic. Data published in 2020 by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the U.S. could see a shortage of 54,100 to 139,000 physicians by 2033 in all fields.
Bigelow said that traveling nurses have become a popular fix for many hospitals across the nation, and Mosaic is working hard to keep some of those employees permanently.
"We do have to tap into those resources whenever staffing becomes difficult, and we do that to help protect our caregivers," Bigelow said. "It's an investment in our patient care and at the bedside to allow our staffing ratios to stay appropriate. Now, on the flip side of that, with the expense that comes with it, it's really important that the agency that we find, we talk to them and we really talk about how amazing it is to work for Mosaic as a nurse and what benefits we provide. And we really want to work on that conversion. If they love it here, we want them here."