Motivating High School Students to Choose Healthcare Careers for Community Impact

Scary thought? 15-year-olds are the future of healthcare. Emphasis on the word future. One of the biggest reasons our healthcare system has experienced such significant shortages over the last five years is not Covid. 

The actual problem has always been recruitment. For decades, more nurses have been leaving the profession than entering it.

That is unsustainable. Good recruitment processes can reverse that problematic course. However, there is a challenge. How do you convince a bunch of kids to borrow $100,000 to pursue a career that everybody seems to be leaving?

It’s not a matter of trickery. Healthcare careers are legitimately rewarding. They are also very lucrative. In this article, we take an in-depth look at how to make healthcare appealing to high school children. Read on to learn more.

Highlight the Way that Healthcare Makes a Difference

Most people like the idea of doing meaningful work. This extends even to kids. Schools can go a long way toward improving nursing school recruitment by emphasizing nurses as community heroes.

Certainly, this comparison is not a stretch. During the pandemic, nurses frequently put themselves into direct contact with the virus.

During ordinary times, nurses sacrifice their own health and peace of mind to benefit other people. It is noble work. High school students who want to give back to their communities could do much worse.

Explain All the Options

It’s a common misconception that all nurses work in hospitals. It is true that many people begin their careers working on hospital floors. However, this is not the only option. Some nurses work in helicopters. Some nurses work with the police. Some work in school. Some work as teachers at universities.

Others work directly in the homes of their patients. There are so many different ways to use a nursing license. Emphasizing the career path people can choose once they become certified as a nurse may make the profession more appealing.

 It’s not unusual for many people to find the idea of working evening and holiday shifts unappealing. However, that is only one small aspect of an extremely diverse career path.

Do be honest. Most of the specialized fields fall into the “Advanced Practice,” context. This means that to pursue these jobs, nurses need to go to graduate school. Making sure that students understand the path ahead may scare some away. However, it can also help ensure that the candidates who do stick around are better prepared for the work ahead. 

The Benefits Don’t Suck

Nurses may never get rich, but they aren’t poor either. Most RNs earn considerably more than the national average. Nurses who are willing to go on to get a graduate degree can earn more than $100,000 a year. Nurse practitioners can open their own practices and run a small business.

Nurses also tend to have good healthcare and retirement benefits. People who are looking for a career that will provide them with financial stability could do a lot worse.

Emphasize that Nursing is for Everyone

Many of us have a stereotypical image of a nurse in our head. We imagine a woman. Usually middle age. Usually white. Nurturing but perhaps somewhat stern. This of course is a fictional person. In reality, nurses can be anyone. Men. People from any minority group or religion.

Pulling apart stereotypes is an important part of improving nursing recruitment. 

Nurses need to be compassionate, hardworking, and intelligent. Any student who meets those criteria could be a good fit. 

Diverse Healthcare Employment

Studies show that patients generally experience worse outcomes when their healthcare provider is a member of the majority group. Cultural barriers and difficulties with communication are probably the source of this problem.

Most hospitals are working on specialized training that can help reduce this issue. However, the most sustainable solution to healthcare outcome disparities is to create a more equitable workforce. 

School guidance counselors and college recruiters can help contribute to this by calling nursing programs to the attention of qualified students from all backgrounds. 

Unfortunately, it is difficult to pursue a career path when you don’t know anyone who has done it before. And since there are not many minorities working in healthcare, currently this means that it is even harder for those who might be interested.

A well-developed recruitment and support system could help reduce this problem.

Healthcare Adjacent Careers

There are ways to support the local healthcare community without working on the front lines. Social workers play an important role in connecting people on their caseloads with necessary services. 

Students who might not want to work as nurses can still make a meaningful difference by focusing on important, healthcare-adjacent jobs. Many of these positions are equally in need of passionate candidates. 

Conclusion

There is no quick fix for the nursing shortage problem. At the very earliest a good recruitment strategy that started today would not achieve any results at all until at least four years from now. For today’s patients, that timeline may not feel adequate.

Still, it’s always better late than never right? Strong recruitment strategies may not be expedient, but they are effective and sustainable ways to help the future of healthcare.