Healthcare Professionals: Recruiting the Right Candidates

If you’re a healthcare provider, you assume an immense responsibility to hire the right healthcare professionals. Those you hire must be suitable because their decisions will affect multiple lives.

The medical professionals you interview come to you after passing a strenuous series of exams and trials. Those candidates know the inner workings of the human body like the backs of their hands. But is that enough to make them allied health professionals?

Here are some qualities to look for in a candidate before you hire them.

1. Self-confidence

In the high-stress health care and treatment environment, diagnosing and determining what a patient needs as quickly as possible can be a matter of life and death. There’s simply no room for the healthcare professional to second-guess decisions in patient care.

They get an extensive education, and platforms like Lecturio can help them hone their professional skills. But beyond that, being a good doctor also involves self-confidence and other soft skills. They must always treat patients in a way that ensures they get the best care possible. Sometimes, in a high-stress situation, doctors must rely on their gut to make the right choice.

Healthcare workers must not only be able to handle these situations decisively but also get their teammates to take their speculation seriously. This is especially true when a patient has multiple healthcare practitioners involved in their care. For example, that could include a primary care physician, a surgeon or other specialist, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Health professionals must all work together and listen to one another to ensure the patient receives proper care.

Other caregivers must also take directions from a doctor. For instance, physical therapists, cardiovascular technologists, and related professionals who conduct tests or scans may also be on board.

Patients may need specialized care for such things as hearing loss, oral health, or specific corrective lenses. A comprehensive care team can involve many different health professions. These allied health professionals tend to work better as a team when they’re confident in themselves and one another.

2. Flexibility

All healthcare workers need to be able to work in a highly unpredictable and often chaotic environment. Mass casualty emergencies happen, and if an event occurs nearby, the hospital will need all hands on deck.

Doctors come in at all hours of the day to perform time-sensitive surgery and treatments. Some medical procedures can take 12 hours or more to complete. Beyond that, all manner of things must be taken care of as soon as possible. For example, following a lengthy procedure, doctors may need to counsel patients about their health conditions, surgical care, and follow-up treatment.

In short, a healthcare professional must be able to:

• Put their personal life aside.
• Make themselves available on short notice.

3. Great communication skills

Effective communication skills rank among the most important attributes of a qualified medical professional. A very important part of being a health professional is communicating with patients from all walks of life. For doctors, dentists, and other healthcare providers, great communication skills are an absolute requirement to be efficient and educate patients. Patients don’t always tell you the full story; sometimes they’re even hesitant to describe certain symptoms. In this case, a healthcare professional’s job is to put the patient at ease. This can help encourage patients to delve deeper into the issue at hand.

Communication skills are also important for working with colleagues, including registered nurses, dental hygienists, and other medical professionals. Working well together within a fast-paced and stress-inducing environment requires clarity and effective exchange of critical information.

4. Empathy

A healthcare practitioner’s job is complex and incredibly demanding. They often work crazy hours and are indeed overworked. Regardless, they must be mentally present the whole time they’re on duty. A single slip-up can deliver disastrous consequences for people in their care.

In their tough job, motivation typically arises from the healthcare professional caring about the people they help. Empathy and compassion fuel a conscientious physician’s desire to do right by patients. When patients recognize this, it helps build trust between patient and doctor. Hence, difficult conversations with patients and concerned family members about health care issues and treatment become easier when medical professionals also care about their mental-emotional well-being.

HR for health professionals and healthcare facilities can be more complex than it is for other industries, beginning with recruitment. When hiring health workers, consider attributes beyond their appropriate certification and academic record that would make someone a good fit. Before choosing a candidate, determine whether they’re likely to work well under pressure and navigate the demanding environment with grace.

Human resources has its challenges. We have solutions. Turn to Workest daily for tips, tools, and resources for success in business and HR management.