Healthcare Recruiting & Retention in 2025

Like many industries, healthcare has experienced tremendous changes over the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the vital role that healthcare workers play in society, while social justice movements re-emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Economic inflation has contributed to rising costs across the board, while technological advances have led to transformative changes in nearly every aspect of healthcare, including recruiting and retention.

The impact of those changes continues to reverberate in 2025, but they don't have to leave your organization in the lurch. Let's take a look at the most substantial challenges in healthcare recruiting and retention and explore strategies for meeting them head-on.  

Key Challenges in Healthcare Recruiting and Retention

One of the biggest challenges that healthcare recruiters face in 2025 is finding qualified candidates to match the number of available positions. The healthcare industry has suffered from a steadily declining workforce since 2020, partially due to the intense pressures and demands of working through the pandemic, especially for first responders and hospital workers. 

That decline is expected to continue in 2025, with Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) such as registered nurses (RNs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician's assistants facing the most substantial losses. According to some estimates, the industry could see a shortage of as many as 450,000 RNs alone.

There are a few reasons behind these shortages. One reason is the related shortage of nursing educators. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), nursing programs currently face a faculty vacancy rate of 8.8%, impacting the number of students these programs can enroll and train. 

Nursing shortages are compounded by the sagging number of workers entering healthcare as well as the escalating number of those leaving the field to pursue other opportunities. Many of the latter cite demanding workloads and burnout as the primary reasons. As such, retaining overburdened employees is another challenge to the industry, as managers struggle to balance the needs and well-being of employees against the care demands of patients.

It isn't only the demands of directly caring for patients that increase workloads among healthcare professionals. There's also the range of daily administrative functions they perform outside of face-to-face patient interactions, such as:

• Updating patient files
• Employee scheduling
• Coordinating with insurance providers  

These duties add to job-related stresses. Managing administrative burnout by reducing the burden caused by routine yet necessary administrative tasks is another of 2025's top challenges.

Healthcare recruiters face further staffing issues when it comes to assembling workplaces that are as diverse as the communities they serve. Patient care improves when care teams reflect the racial, ethnic, gender, disability, and citizenship diversity of patient communities, yet recruiting and retaining diverse staff is not always an easy feat. 

Strategies for Success

When healthcare organizations are understaffed, everyone suffers. Staffing shortages contribute to the workloads of overworked employees, impacting care quality and leading to professional burnout. Burnout drives up turnover, costing organizations thousands of dollars per employee who must be replaced. Organizations may struggle to fill those recently vacated positions thanks to a shrinking candidate network, which compounds the issue. Employees aren't satisfied, employers lose money, and patient care suffers.

There isn't much you can do to change the number of people entering healthcare professions, nor can you hire qualified candidates if none are available. What you can do is focus on improving employee retention and your recruitment efforts by exploring ways to make work better for your current employees. Consider these strategies for raising employee happiness and satisfaction in healthcare.

Leverage branded onboarding and retention gifts

Purpose-driven branding may not be a primary solution to the widespread challenges impacting healthcare recruiting and retention, but it can go a long way toward improving your organization's recruitment and retention programs:

• Recruiting: Draw in health professionals at job fairs, universities, and other medical industry events with giveaways that tell the story and values of your brand and practice. 
• Onboarding: Incorporating branded merchandise into onboarding programs is a welcoming gesture that can help integrate new workers more smoothly. It also signals that your organization values its employees and is invested in their success.
• Retention: Give your nurses, doctors, and other professionals the recognition they deserve with gifts and awards with your company branding. Consider honoring individual excellence, personal achievements, and milestone anniversaries with classic recognition pieces, or explore other employee appreciation ideas. Branded gifts are also the perfect way to mark special occasions and show appreciation to entire teams, for example, by having a gifting campaign for your nurses during National Nurses Month.

Foster employee well-being and engagement 

When employees feel supported and appreciated, they are three times more likely to be engaged in and enthusiastic about their work, according to Gallup. Employee gifting is one way to show employees you care and help them feel more appreciated on the job. Implementing flexible work arrangements is another strategy to encourage employee well-being and avoid burnout. 

A report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicates that workplace stressors have a substantial negative impact on the well-being of medical professionals, who report taking more time off work to focus on their mental health. Employers in healthcare can promote employee well-being by:

• Making paid mental health leave available and encouraging staff to use it
• Ensuring adequate staffing
• Providing on-the-job support programs 

Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

Diversity in healthcare recruiting is important and could potentially decrease excessive healthcare costs by as much as $8 trillion over the next 25 years, according to a study by the Kellogg Foundation. Notably, research by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) indicates that a racially diverse medical workforce results in improved self-reported patient experiences. Having a more diverse team can help your organization better support patients from underserved communities and provide them with the care they deserve. 

Achieving it isn't as easy, but you can improve the diversity of your recruiting strategies by:

• Nurturing diverse, inclusive recruitment channels
• Staying informed on DEI standards and the latest guidance 
• Completing a DEI certification

Utilize data-driven approaches to hiring and employee satisfaction

Leverage the power of data to optimize your healthcare recruiting strategies, helping you align your efforts with the needs of your organization, find qualified candidates, and hire the best person for any position. Job market data, candidate data, performance data, and data collected from automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) improve decision-making and make hiring processes more efficient. Key approaches include:

• Predictive analysis: In healthcare recruiting, predictive analytics is about using past hiring data to measure the likelihood of success for individual candidates. This enables hirers to choose the best possible candidate for the job.
• Talent mapping: Talent mapping uses data analytics to determine the specific skills and expertise your company will need in the long term so you can start looking for talent earlier.
• Social media recruiting: Integrating with social media platforms like Facebook or work-oriented platforms like LinkedIn can connect you with passive jobseekers — qualified candidates who aren't actively looking for a job but who always have their eye out for exciting opportunities.

How Boundless Supports Healthcare Hiring with Tailored Branding Solutions

If improving your organization's healthcare recruiting and retention strategies is one of your goals in 2025, branded merchandise can make a big impact. Branded onboarding materials help new hires feel like a part of the team, while awards, plaques, and branded gifts let you recognize employee achievements, honor their dedication, and show your support and appreciation. For more ideas about what you can do to inspire and care for your staff—as well as provide excellent patient care—browse our Healthcare collection here. 

What promotional products would most appeal to your workforce? Boundless’s team of experts is here for you. See how we help healthcare providers with the materials and brand strategy to promote your retention and recruiting efforts.