LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2024) – UK HealthCare recently hired more than 300 registered nurses (RNs) as part of the University of Kentucky Human Resources Healthcare Recruiting’s implementation of a New Graduate Recruitment program. The RNs were hired from the academic year 2023-24. It’s the latest step to hire thousands of health care workers over the next decade.
The New Graduate Recruitment program allows hiring managers and new graduates to connect and speed up the hiring process.
“Previously, the hiring process took two to three months, requiring excessive administrative time in scheduling, delay in offers and subsequent onboarding,” said RN STEPS Nurse Recruiter Graig Casada. “A dedicated, concentrated new hire interview blitz over the course of two to three days is much more efficient.”
The program includes both in-person and virtual interviews. All in-person interviews are conducted at a centralized location on the UK campus during a multi-day event. The virtual option allows UK hiring managers to connect with students nationwide to see how they could potentially begin their careers at UK HealthCare. Leaders say the program will help to effectively serve the people of the Commonwealth.
“It’s essential that we continue to introduce well-trained new graduate registered nurses,” said Nichole Stewart, enterprise director of UK HR HealthCare Recruiting. “Our responsibility goes beyond providing care to our fellow Kentuckians today. We must also prepare the next generation of health care professionals who will carry on this tradition of excellence for years to come.”
As part of the program, UK HealthCare hired 328 nursing graduates from Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 from 40 colleges and universities nationwide, including nearly 20 colleges in Kentucky. Of those graduate hires, 141 graduated from UK College of Nursing keeping these talented caregivers close to their alma mater.
The nurses are working across 45 departments in the hospital including the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, the Emergency Department and other units, giving nursing students nationwide an opportunity to learn and grow in Kentucky’s No. 1 ranked hospital.
“If you can practice nursing safely, competently and confidently at UK, you can practice anywhere,” Casada said. “Our pay remains competitive and our outstanding benefits are second to none. Shift flexibility and opportunities for professional growth and development abound. You can find a home here.”
The New Graduate Recruitment program began just months after the UK Board of Trustees endorsed several projects, including a plan to begin design work for a new patient care tower at the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital. Construction on the tower is slated to begin in 2027. It is expected to be fully operational by 2033.
UK HR Healthcare Recruiting is hosting another UK HealthCare RN hiring event through the New Graduate Recruitment program 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Nov. 13-14 at The Cornerstone. Registration for the event for both in-person and virtual interviews will be available soon.…Read more by
