Tulane University Hospital & Clinic

Integrated Recruitment Strategy

ASSESS

Tulane University Hospital & Clinic (TUHC) asked Bernard Hodes Group to help them recruit 200 nurses in three months, while the city of New Orleans and the hospital itself began rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Because the 450,000 residents in this area followed the mandatory evacuation order, TUHC, the only functioning hospital in the city, had lost more than 50% of their staff. Many left and relocated or could not return to their homes. While many hospitals across the U.S. faced recruiting challenges brought on by the growing nurse shortage, Tulane had to struggle with a radically reduced nurse population and a public perception of New Orleans as a dangerous and undesirable place to live. Although Hodes had worked with TUHC since 1987, this situation needed a more robust strategy than usual, reaching nurses outside of the city and appealing to their desire to help rebuild a great city and hospital.

STRATEGIZE

After conducting focus groups with RNs who stayed through the storm, we decided that the message needed to be honest and powerful. Our approach was to develop testimonial-type ads featuring Tulane's heroic nurses and telling their amazing stories of courage and fortitude. Our strategy had to include Human Resources Public Relations (HR/PR) and speak to nurses' sense of loyalty, spirit of adventure, and desire to be part of something greater (i.e., the renaissance of New Orleans). We targeted major metropolitan newspapers with the highest circulation in this region to reach active job seekers, as well as a passive audience by advertising in the living, health and weekend sections with over 50% female readership. We advertised on top radio stations and local newspapers reaching an audience of over 100,000. Supplementing this effort were online banners on nursing and general sites, e-mail blasts, search engine marketing, direct mail to select nursing specialties, and career fairs.

IMPLEMENT

To determine which geographic areas we would focus on, we researched markets across the country with the highest unemployment rates and cross referenced them with the cities with the lowest salary scale for RNs. We also targeted the locations with the highest number of FEMA applicants.

The cornerstone of this large marketing effort was a micro site designed with a unique URL, www.tulaneheroes.com. The site allowed us to tell the stories of the RNs who stayed and to appeal to RNs who would want to be part of helping get the city back on its feet. The site also allowed nurses to find out more information about opportunities and special benefits, engage in relationship marketing, e-mail friends/colleagues who might potentially be interested in working for the hospital and to apply online. Through Human Resources/Public Relations (HR/PR) efforts, we utilized the press as much as possible through news coverage, press releases and editorial/advertorial considerations. All media included tracking mechanisms to increase ad effectiveness.

MEASURE

A very important component of the strategy was our ability to track results of all media through tulaneheroes.com. Within the first two months of launch, the site averaged 1,500 unique visitors per week, while e-mail blasts were at a click-through rate of double industry standard (with response rates of 7% or more). TUHC was honored for their dedication and work during and after Katrina by Johnson & Johnson and opted to extend the campaign through the end of the year. The goal of 200 RN hires was met at an average CPH.