Per Diem / PRN
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Per diem support can protect your employed team when patient volume changes faster than your schedule can adjust.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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 does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
Healthcare Headhunters places clinicians into your own per diem pool, rather than promising coverage for individual shifts. You decide who can work, which units they may enter, and how your supervisors assign them. Per diem hiring works best when you identify work that a clinician can safely assume after a focused orientation.
A med-surg unit may need help with admissions, medication passes, documentation, discharge tasks, and team communication. A specialty area may need a narrower assignment until the clinician knows your equipment, escalation path, and charting rules.
Your department still owns credentialing, clinical assessment, orientation, and assignment decisions. We screen credentials, work history, availability, and work preferences before presenting someone. We also ask what the clinician has done recently, how they handle an unfamiliar chart, and when they would ask the charge nurse for direction.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Confirm an active state license when the role requires one. Ask whether basic life support certification is current and whether your unit asks for added credentials. A preferred certificate should be discussed as a hiring preference, not treated as a universal legal rule.
- Review recent work in a comparable care setting. Ask what assignment size they handled, which routine duties they completed, and what equipment or patient populations they saw. Recent relevant practice often matters more than total years in the field.
- Ask which electronic health record systems they have used. Probe beyond a platform name: Can they enter an admission, locate orders, document an intervention, and send a message to the right team member? This reveals the orientation your staff may need to provide.
- Discuss availability as a pattern, not a vague promise. Ask about weekdays, weekends, nights, holidays, minimum notice, and how often they can accept work. Match those answers to the openings that repeatedly strain your employed staff.
- Clarify the reporting chain for changes in patient condition, missing supplies, unclear orders, and documentation questions. A clinician should know when to contact the charge nurse, provider, pharmacist, supervisor, or another named resource.
- Ask about floating, shift extensions, parking, badge access, dress expectations, and any unit limits before adding someone to the pool. Clear terms reduce avoidable declines after your team has spent time onboarding them.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Many per diem clinicians hold a permanent role and want occasional work that fits around their established schedule. They may seek extra income, different patient populations, or more control over when they accept work. Their interest does not mean they can accept every opening.
Others are between permanent positions, returning after a career pause, completing education, or seeking a different type of practice before making a long-term move.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is adding a clinician to the pool before checking whether your charting orientation covers the tasks you expect them to complete independently. Another is treating a general certification as proof of specialty experience, then assigning work outside the person’s recent practice history.
Giving the clinician no named contact for the first shift, then expecting them to resolve local process questions alone.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us the roles, units, licenses, certifications, and recurring shift patterns you need. We present people whose credentials, work history, and stated availability align with your request. Provide a short orientation plan covering badge access, chart access, reporting contacts, documentation expectations, and escalation steps.
Define the pool
Describe the work your team wants help completing and any assignments that need unit-specific training.
Review screened clinicians
You review resumes, conduct your own interviews, complete credentialing, and decide whether to add someone to your pool.
Prepare first-shift access
Confirm terms, licensing, credentialing, and malpractice arrangements before anyone starts.
What does per diem placement cost?
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. These reasons can make per diem work attractive, but each candidate’s schedule and goals still need direct discussion.
Is per diem the same as asking for a clinician for one open shift?
No: per diem means placement into your employer-owned pool. Your leaders decide whether and when a pool member receives a shift after your onboarding and approval process.
How do you screen per diem clinicians?
We review credentials, license status where applicable, work history, recent setting experience, and availability. We ask concrete questions about charting, assignment duties, communication, and reasons for seeking flexible work.
Can we hire a per diem clinician into a permanent role?
Yes, if you and the clinician want to discuss a permanent move. Per diem work can give both sides a chance to assess scheduling, unit expectations, and workplace fit before that decision.
Can you help with contract, travel, or locum coverage?
Yes, on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts. Per diem placement remains distinct from contract coverage and individual shift filling.
What should you send us about this role?
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.
Tell us which roles you want in your per diem pool and what work they must handle. We will begin with clinicians whose backgrounds give you a practical starting point.
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.
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 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.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
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.