Background:

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, trends emerged that demonstrated fewer nurse graduates sought careers in adult medical-surgical units (AMSU). Post-pandemic, traditional recruitment strategies have failed to entice nurse graduates to AMSUs. In 2020, we saw an all-time low of nurse graduates seeking jobs in AMSUs. Academic practice partnerships (APP) serve as an avenue to explore new strategies for recruitment, to advance the practice of nursing, elevate the health of diverse patient populations & support an organization’s nursing strategic plan. Through a collaborative relationship between key leaders at a school of nursing (SON) & an academic medical center (AMC), the development, implementation & evaluation of shared vision, mutual goals & expectations were designed through organizational processes which improved the recruitment of nurse graduates to AMSUs.

Objectives:

The objective is to increase the recruitment of nurse graduates from the APP SON to AMSUs, in an AMC, utilizing a workforce enhancement scholarship (WES) developed & maintained through an APP, to support one of the numerous goals of the AMC’s nursing strategic plan.

Methods:

A comparative analysis was performed to analyze the impact of a WES on the recruitment of nurse graduates from the APP SON to AMSUs in an AMC. The WES was implemented in December of 2021.

Results:

The WES was successful in increasing the recruitment of nurse graduates to AMSUs at the AMC. From 2019 -2021 there were 29 nurse graduates from the APP SON who accepted jobs in AMSUs at the AMC compared to 54 nurse graduates from the same SON who accepted jobs in AMSUs at the AMC from 2022-2023.

Conclusions:

The utilization of a WES, developed through an APP, can be a useful tool to increase recruitment of nurse graduates to AMSUs and support the nursing strategic plan. Only one SON participated in the WES through the APP. Further inquiry should explore the results of multiple nursing program’s participation. A deeper analysis into the data over time is needed to evaluate the impact on retention. Nurse graduate recruitment to AMSU’s is but one goal of the nursing strategic plan. Other goals could potentially be achieved through an APP.