How to hire a LPN/LVN, Nursing Assistants & Patient Care Techs team
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Hiring an LPN/LVN, nursing assistant, and patient care tech team starts with separating licensed nursing duties from delegated bedside support.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What should you settle before you hire?
If you hire these roles under one broad posting, you may attract applicants who cannot cover the assigned work. Start with a shift map: medication duties, personal care, observations, transfers, documentation, and escalation. We use that map to screen candidates for the actual assignment, not just a familiar title.
An LPN/LVN needs the applicable nursing license. Assigned nursing duties depend on state scope, supervision, and facility policy. Nursing assistants commonly support bathing, toileting, meals, mobility, and observations.
Define who delegates work, who receives reports of changes in patient condition, and who handles nursing decisions outside each role's scope. If your opening combines personal care with technical tasks, list both. Ask your clinical leader to approve the assignment before recruiting. A candidate's previous employer may have used the same title differently.
What should you check before an offer?
License and registry status: Which nursing license or aide credential covers this assignment, and where is it active? We screen the relevant records and history. You verify applicable license, registry, training, and task authorization before assigning work. Personal care and transfers: Describe a shift when several patients needed toileting or transfer assistance together.
- A useful answer explains how the candidate sought help, followed the care plan, protected privacy, and reported unfinished care rather than attempting an unsafe transfer alone.
- Observation and escalation: What change did you notice during routine care, whom did you tell, and what did you document? Listen for specific observations and prompt reporting within the role, not claims of independently diagnosing the problem.
- Licensed nursing work: For an LPN/LVN opening, ask how the candidate handled a medication discrepancy or an unfamiliar ordered task. Look for checking applicable instructions, contacting the supervising clinician, and documenting actions rather than guessing or extending their scope.
- Technical duties and handoff: Which patient care tech tasks have you performed, and how was competency assessed? Ask for examples of equipment preparation, patient identification, specimen handling, and reporting. Distinguish observed practice from independently assigned work; discuss handoff and charting responsibilities separately.
Where does relevant experience come from?
We can recruit from long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, hospitals, outpatient practices, and home health employers. We compare assignments across those backgrounds. A nursing assistant accustomed to recurring residents may need orientation to hospital turnover. A hospital tech may have little experience with extended personal care routines.
Candidates may consider moving for steadier schedules, different physical demands, clearer supervision, or a setting closer to home. We ask what they want to change and what they expect from your opening. That discussion helps expose mismatches before you spend time interviewing.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
A common mistake is advertising one interchangeable support role. Separate licensed nursing work, aide duties, and technical tasks so applicants can judge whether their training matches the assignment. Another is treating a certificate as permission for every task. Check local rules and your policies; a preferred certificate is not automatically a legal mandate.
Leaving physical duties vague. Describe transfer assistance, walking, personal care, and available equipment, then discuss how candidates have handled comparable assignments.
What are the next steps?
Send us the shift pattern, patient population, duties by role, supervision structure, and orientation plan. We review credentials, work history, schedule fit, and concrete examples of care and reporting. Confirm the assignment and onboarding plan before making an offer. Identify which credentials are mandatory and which skills you can teach.
Map the assignment
Resolve overlapping responsibilities before opening separate searches.
Screen against the work
Use consistent interview questions while testing the different duties of each position.
Confirm the hiring terms
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
How should we assess someone moving from long-term care to hospital work?
Ask about handoffs, changing assignments, and reporting observations to unfamiliar nurses. Compare their experience with your documentation, equipment, and orientation plan rather than rejecting the setting alone. Patient care tech duties vary by setting; the title alone does not establish permission to perform specimen collection, ECGs, or other technical tasks.
Can an experienced nursing assistant cover an LPN/LVN vacancy?
Not by taking on duties reserved for a licensed nurse. You can review support assignments, but the licensed nursing work still needs an appropriately licensed person.
Should every patient care tech applicant have the same certificate?
Start with the assigned tasks and applicable rules. Confirm required credentials separately from preferred certificates, then assess training for each technical task.
What should our interview reveal about missed personal care?
Ask what the candidate did when care could not be completed during the shift. Look for timely communication, accurate documentation, and a clear handoff of outstanding needs.
Can we recruit staff into our own per diem pool?
Yes, per diem placement means hiring into your pool, not filling individual shifts. State scheduling expectations and orientation duties so candidates can assess the arrangement.
How can Healthcare Headhunters help with this hire?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your duty split and supervision plan with Healthcare Headhunters. We will help turn them into separate, practical searches for the people you need.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Keep the hiring brief connected
LPN/LVN, Nursing Assistants & Patient Care Techs hub
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
What are the fee and payment terms?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The signed agreement sets the fee and when it is due, along with the placement terms. We agree those terms before the search starts and before any candidate introductions. Temporary or contract coverage is a separate arrangement.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.