Best Practices for Recruiting Advanced Practice Professionals
Best Practices for Recruiting Advanced Practice Professionals in 2025
The shortage of advanced practice professionals (APPs), including nurse practitioners (NPs), physician associates (PAs), nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists, has only intensified in 2025. While demand across all healthcare roles remains high, recruiting and retaining APPs has become especially urgent as health systems compete for a limited number of qualified clinicians.
Why Demand for APPs Keeps Growing
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurse practitioner roles are expected to grow by 45% from 2022 to 2032, while physician associate roles are projected to grow by 27%. These are among the fastest-growing professions in the country. This is being driven by:
- An aging U.S. population requiring more chronic and complex care
- Physician shortages, especially in rural and underserved areas
- A greater emphasis on team-based care models in both primary and specialty settings
- A generational wave of clinician retirements
With fewer physicians entering the workforce and more retiring, hospitals are relying on APPs to fill critical gaps in care delivery.
Why APPs Are Leaving—and What to Do About It
In a tight labor market, APPs have choices. Many are moving between employers—or leaving the field entirely—due to dissatisfaction. The most common reasons APPs cite for job changes include:
- Role ambiguity: unclear expectations and fragmented onboarding
- Inadequate support or isolation: lack of team integration or mentorship
- Workload burnout: especially in high-acuity or understaffed units
- Limited career development: absence of continuing education or leadership paths
- Toxic workplace culture: poor communication, recognition, or peer relationships
- Insufficient flexibility: rigid schedules that don’t support work-life balance
According to a 2025 AAPPR survey, 47% of APPs who left a role within the last year reported that poor onboarding or leadership communication was a major reason for their departure.
Best Practices to Attract and Retain APPs
To compete in this market, successful employers focus on both speed and experience. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
1. Prioritize Team Fit Over Resumé Perfection
Do not disqualify strong candidates because they don’t match every line item. Evaluate based on references, patient feedback, and adaptability.
2. Structure a Real Onboarding Plan
Too often, APPs are thrown into full patient loads after one day of orientation. Instead, set a clear, phased onboarding process with:
- EMR training
- Workflow standards
- Introductions to team roles
- Defined supervision and autonomy levels
- Weekly check-ins for the first 90 days
This reduces early frustration and increases retention.
3. Practice Transparent Pay and Benefits
With new state laws requiring salary transparency, candidates now expect full visibility. Publish pay ranges in your job posts and emphasize benefits like:
- Tuition reimbursement and CME coverage
- Paid sabbaticals or personal development days
- Student loan repayment support
- Family leave, fertility, and adoption benefits
4. Communicate Quickly Using Mobile-Friendly Tools
The best candidates move fast. Text-based updates, interview scheduling links, and in-app messaging help maintain engagement and reduce time to hire.
5. Promote Culture in Your Messaging
Why should an APP want to work for you? Highlight team cohesion, clinical autonomy, leadership development, or community impact. These often matter more than salary alone.
6. Offer Flexibility Wherever Possible
Many APPs are leaving rigid shifts in search of better balance. Offer flexible scheduling, remote charting time, or reduced FTE options to stand out.
7. Build Long-Term Relationships
Stay in touch with past applicants and former employees. A strong alumni pipeline can become your best source of future hires.
How Goodwork Helps You Hire Advanced Practice Providers
Goodwork offers an AI-matching marketplace for clinicians, including nurse practitioners, physician associates, CRNAs, and other APPs. Our technology enables:
- Faster hiring, with hospitals applying to clinicians instead of the other way around
- Higher match quality, based on location, pay, schedule, and setting preferences
- Reduced ghosting, thanks to built-in communication and transparency tools
Our clients have used Goodwork to cut their hiring time from 90+ days to under 30, while also improving retention.
The bottom line: to recruit and keep advanced practice professionals in 2025, health systems must provide fast, flexible, and transparent hiring experiences—and back it up with a culture that supports clinician growth. If you’re ready to modernize how you hire, we’re ready to help.
