CASE STUDY 3

Nurse Recruitment at Gulf Hospital

Gulf Hospital (GH) is one of the leading hospitals in the country, known for providing
quality health care services at affordable prices. Its vision is to become a national health care
center, providing better, faster, and friendlier care. Its internal strategy focuses on continuously
improving service quality and achieving higher customer satisfaction.
Both doctors and patients have recently complained about the impatience of some nurses,
their lack of cooperation, and their lack of relevant experience. The nurses have been accused
of creating a bad atmosphere in some departments due to their inability to get along with each
other. Nurse turnover has been increasing over the last 2 years, reaching 20%. With current
plans to enlarge the Pediatrics Department, there is a need to recruit and select 25 new nurses
over the next few months.
Most nurses at GH are recruited internally: 70% of the applications come from referrals,
10% from the hospital’s Wen site, and the rest are spontaneous applications. Only 5% of the
nurses are recruited externally, using classified ads in the local newspaper. Since publication
of the job opening 4 weeks ago, Hussam, the HR director, has received 250 resumes. After
screening for education and experience, he is left with 100 candidates. Hussam wants to
improve the selection process. Here are the elements that give Heba, the new HR assistant, a
headache:
Hussam insists on interviewing the nurses himself, because he believes that doctors and
supervisors do not have the HRM background to do it effectively on their own. Since they are
disappointed with the behavior of the newer nurses, the directors of the three different
recruiting departments (pediatrics, trauma, and maternity) also want to interview personally
those nurses who will work in their departments. Finally, the nursing director also wants to be
included in the job interviews. But the nursing director, the department heads, and the nurses
themselves have regular arguments about the role of nurses! And all of them want absolutely
to interview the nurses because they have quite different beliefs about the way nurses should
be selected. All these people are very busy, so Hussam has decided to carry out panel selection
interviews. Each candidate will be interviewed by the HRM director, the nursing director, and
the potential department head. Some of the nurses are considered for two different departments.
From the job description, Heba assembled the job specifications: (1) nursing degree in
the country of origin and necessary licenses from the local government; (2) minimum of 2 years
of experience in the specialized nursing field; (3) flexibility and willingness to learn new skills
(GH is not a big hospital, so nurses will be asked to perform multiple tasks in some situation);
(4) positive attitude, enthusiasm, and helpfulness; and (5) fit with the team. GH wants a family-
like environment that helps patients feel better during their stay.
Questions:
1. Suppose you are the HR assistant. What selection test will you use?
2. Assume you are Heba. Hussam asked you to organize the panel interviews. The panel
interviews are Hussam, the department heads, and the nursing director; the department
heads and the nursing director have never conducted selection interviews before.
• What are the challenges or potential pitfalls in this situation?
• What sequential steps should be followed to design and conduct effective job
interviews in this situation?
• Would you conduct a crash seminar on interviewing skills for doctors and the
director of nursing? Why? What would you teach them?