How to choose a nursing recruitment agency
By Dan Allard
Your agency should be on the right frameworks
At Sanctuary, we supply nursing staff to NHS trusts across the UK through the HealthTrust Europe, Crown Commercial Service and Collaborative Procurement Partnership frameworks. This means that we can provide the greatest choice of contracts for our community, whether you wish to work in a bustling city or enjoy a quieter life in the country. It also means that we can support our nursing community to find the right jobs which perfectly match their skills and desired career progression.
Your agency should have safe recruitment practices
Safe recruitment practices ensure that nursing staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults and are an integral part of ensuring a safe environment – this is a requirement to remain on the NHS frameworks.
At Sanctuary, we are proud to lead the way when it comes to safe resourcing and our in-house compliance team is at the heart of our recruitment process. Behind the scenes, they are busy organising registration certificates, references and immunisations (where necessary) to ensure you are prepared for your placement. As a DBS umbrella body, Sanctuary enables online DBS applications to be carried out in-house, often resulting in a faster turnaround. We also meet all of our candidates face-to-face to verify documents and get to know them, giving us greater confidence that we can match the right job for you.
Your agency should understand your profession
When you are working with an agency, in order to get the most out of the roles, it is important that your consultant understands the work that you do. Nursing is a hugely varied career working across different specialisms, wards and settings.
We offer a great variety of nursing roles and our team of consultants are knowledgable about the profession. If there is a specific area of nursing you are interested in, your consultant will be able to recommend roles or ways in which you can progress your career.
Your agency should facilitate great relationships
You should have a good relationship with your consultant and be able to speak to them whenever you have a concern or query.
Your Sanctuary consultant won’t just listen to your current experience but will take the time to learn your career goals and identify roles which will help you achieve these ambitions.
“I am lucky to have a great Sanctuary consultant who knows me and has always been there to support me all aspects of my role.”- Community Psychiatric Nurse, Wisbech
Your agency should support your career
Recruitment should never be about finding a singular job. It should be about supporting your career from the moment that you commence your training through to the day that you retire.
Recruitment agencies should be there to support you throughout your revalidation. They should be able to share resources to help you learn about new practices. And they should be able to direct you to training opportunities or events which can lead to professional development.
We have a wide range of free resources available within our careers hub.
We have written a selection of pieces around starting and navigating your nursing career, or to kickstart your nursing career with Sanctuary Personnel, simply upload your CV.
