A Recruiter’s Perspective on BluePipes’ Advantages for the Travel Nursing Industry

The content caught my eyes at first. Then it was the information and detail in each blog and article the website published. I knew BluePipes was some sort of website that shares updates and news on the Travel Nursing industry. But what I didn’t know, as a Travel Nurse Recruiter, was how much leverage it could give me in my efforts to recruit top quality travel nurses. 

The 1st Conversation

I originally spoke with Kyle Schmidt. He’s one of the cofounders of BluePipes. I didn’t know his background until he gave me 2 hours of his day to talk about his journey from travel nursing recruiter to building a brand within the Travel Nursing industry. Again, he gave me 2 hours!

We talked a lot about the industry’s struggles. For example, the process of onboarding a new travel nurse is highly inefficient. In the initial phases, the recruiter and nurse screen one another to determine if they’re a good fit. At some point, they’ll start talking about jobs. However, when a nurse that an agency has never worked with before says they’re interested in a job, it often takes 2 weeks to fill out the required documents which we call a “Submission Profile”. This is understandable because nurses are busy and the documents are lengthy.

But therein lies the problem. Travel nursing jobs get filled quickly. So, by the time the recruiter is able to send the Submission Profile to the Nurse Manager for an interview, it’s too late. The position is gone, filled and not available for the nurse you screened. Now what?

BluePipes was built to break that delay and dismiss frustration for the recruiter and the nurse. The nurse already has a resume, skills checklist, work history and documents built into their BluePipes profile. Bam! This saves so much time in “The Process”! It helps the nurse land the position they want to land for their next travel nurse assignment.

The 2 Main Travel Nurse Recruiting Methods

BluePipes changes the recruitment game. You see, recruiters typically source in 1 of 2 ways.

1. They chose a job and use the job details to narrow down the search for candidates in the company’s database. Then, they give the candidates a call and usually leave them a voicemail and send an email that never gets returned. Why does it never get returned?
2. They go through their database, LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, or whatever channel they choose, and reach out with a generic message until they get a response from an interested nurse. Then, they ask what the nurse is looking for in an assignment. The recruiter then searches for matching jobs with their company’s clients. In most cases, the recruiter ends up telling the nurse one of two things – “I don’t have that available” or “I have that opening, but there are 25 submissions currently.”

Problems With The Two Methods

Both options are not fun. Even when the nurse does get submitted, they’re often frustrated and asking why they didn’t get a detailed notification as to why they didn’t get the position. The recruiter feels like a chicken with their head cut off because they do all this running around, profiling nurses and don’t get the position the nurse wants at the time they want it.

Meanwhile, nurses have lives. Things happen. For example, they can’t do an assignment just yet because of various circumstances. Or, they need a job right away. Other times, there are specific dates they need to land a job. The list goes on and on.

I understand all of this as a recruiter. Moreover, I want to be as transparent and as flexible as possible for my travel nurses. Ultimately, I want them to get the exact position they want. Seriously, who wants to be a used car salesman and try to pin their travel nurses in a job that sucks, isn’t in their desired location, is not a great facility, and has a ratio that has you looking for the light at the end of the 13-week tunnel.

It’s not a good experience for either side. Travel Nurse or Recruiter.

How BluePipes has Leveraged my Travel Nurse Recruiting Process

This is what I’m excited about most. Listen, this place is made for Travel Nurses. I think this is the “LinkedIn” for Travel Nurses. It is perfect! Travel nurses categorize all of the questions the recruiter is going to ask during the initial conversation.

1. Location
2. Specialty
3. Pay
4. Shift
5. Certifications

This cuts down time. Your time as a nurse and my time as a recruiter. Yes, we as recruiters want to help you as travel nurses and yes you want to get what you want. BluePipes has effectively cut out nonsense conversations and stops wasted time (because again, nurses have busy, inconsistent schedules, which aren’t always the same as a recruiter’s).

Here’s the last Scoop

All in all, the connections our recruiters have made with nurses on BluePipes have been extremely positive which has helped our agency internally. It’s helped with a better culture, positive attitudes and more aspiration to work as hard as we can to utilize this tremendous resource in front of our eyes.

There is no other place we’d want to be other than with BluePipes. It’s helping us connect with the amazing nurses we’re seeking. Moreover, it’s helping us create a positively perceived brand with our facilities and VMS providers. Finally, it has established our brand at Mulberie with top notch nurses. It’s been a great experience all around. It’s inspired a go-getter mentality that our clients see with our production and services.

With any questions – Please feel free to reach out to myself!

About the Author

Phil Dobinson is an Account Manager and Travel Nurse Recruiter at Mulberie. You can email him at pdobinson@mulberie.com. Feel free to call Phil at 270-215-5000 (Ext. 103) or on his cell at 717-917-0011. Connect with him on LinkedIn or on Instagram @muberiehealthcare or @mulberieteam.