Recruitment in post-acute care is no longer just about filling vacancies—it’s about finding, engaging, and retaining staff who can deliver compassionate, consistent care in a high-demand environment. With turnover rates among the highest in healthcare, and burnout continuing to impact the workforce, leaders must shift from reactive hiring to proactive, people-centered recruitment strategies.
To do this effectively, organizations need to understand evolving hiring trends, leverage technology wisely, and prioritize the human aspects of the recruitment experience. When done right, these efforts don’t just fill roles—they build workforce stability, improve patient outcomes, and reduce organizational strain.
We recently sat down with David Pardo, Community Strategist at Apploi, for his insights on what’s really moving the needle when it comes to hiring in post-acute care.
One of the most persistent misconceptions in recruitment is equating success with the volume of applications received. Many providers celebrate a high number of applicants without realizing that quality and conversion are what truly matter.
“I’d say a lot of people are focused on, ‘we’re not getting enough applicants’”, says Pardo. “But what they really mean is that they’re getting too many applicants and they’re not the right kind of applicants and they’re just not managing their conversion properly.”
Receiving 100 applications means little if only a handful make it to the interview stage—or if new hires don’t last beyond 90 days. Rather than focusing solely on top-of-funnel metrics, leaders should view recruitment as a strategic pipeline, where each stage—from outreach to onboarding—should be designed to identify and support the right candidates, not just the most available ones.
That means refining job descriptions, setting realistic expectations, and creating clear criteria for what a “right-fit” employee looks like. These steps help ensure time and energy are spent on candidates most likely to succeed and stay.
Technology can be a powerful tool for improving recruitment efficiency. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) such as Apploi, automation tools, and AI-powered assessments can reduce administrative burdens, speed up hiring timelines, and highlight candidate strengths.
For example, automation can help:
But technology has limits. AI can help evaluate communication skills or flag potential issues based on patterns, but it can’t fully assess soft skills like empathy, adaptability, or cultural fit. And it certainly can’t fix underlying organizational challenges such as unclear career paths or poor onboarding experiences.
“The role of technology is to replace, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to replace people. People will always be people,” notes Pardo.
Technology instead should support the human side of recruitment. In post-acute care, where emotional intelligence and bedside manner are critical, the human element remains irreplaceable.
Ghosting—when candidates stop responding or fail to show up for interviews or orientation—is an increasingly common frustration. While it’s tempting to chalk it up to unprofessionalism, the root causes are often more complex.
“Just cause you like them and you think you have something good to offer doesn’t mean that they’re not shopping at 10 other places,” says Pardo.
In today’s labor market, workers have more choices and are more cautious about where they invest their time and energy. Many candidates report ghosting because they had poor experiences in previous hiring processes, received unclear or inconsistent communication, or were uncertain about what to expect in the role.
To reduce ghosting and no-shows, post-acute care organizations should:
When candidates feel valued and informed, they’re more likely to stay engaged throughout the hiring journey—and beyond.
In a tight labor market, the candidate experience can make or break your recruitment efforts. It’s not just about being polite or efficient—it’s about building trust and giving candidates a glimpse of what it will be like to work for your organization.
“The candidate experience means respecting their time,” says Pardo. “Don’t reschedule on them. Don’t play around. Make it human, use their name, send them thank yous.”
Having the right candidate experience in place is especially critical in post-acute care, where staff are often juggling multiple priorities and evaluating not just compensation, but culture, support, and growth potential.
Organizations that consistently provide a positive hiring experience are more likely to attract top talent and see those new hires stay.
When it comes to evaluating recruitment performance, it’s tempting to focus on metrics that are easy to quantify—like “time-to-hire,” which Pardo cautions is one of the most overrated hiring metrics out there.
“People want to know how fast you get the person in the door…and the reason it’s overrated is because it has an ugly twin metric called ‘quick quits’”, notes Pardo.
While speed is important, especially in the fast-paced, high-turnover world of post-acute care, this metric can be misleading when taken at face value. Hiring quickly doesn’t necessarily mean hiring well. If a new employee quits within the first 30, 60, or 90 days, the organization is back at square one—only now with added costs in training, onboarding, and lost productivity.
That’s why “quick quits” is a crucial complementary metric. Without tracking early turnover, organizations miss the full picture and risk making reactive decisions that harm long-term stability.
In contrast, a more strategic and often overlooked metric is candidate drop-off between hiring stages. If candidates are abandoning the process at a specific point, that signals a potential issue worth investigating. For example, an overly complex application, delayed follow-up after interviews, or unclear job expectations can drive qualified applicants away. By identifying and addressing these bottlenecks, organizations can improve their recruitment pipeline and ensure better alignment with candidates who are more likely to stay.
In post-acute care, recruitment and retention are deeply intertwined. Hiring the right people—and setting them up for success—is one of the most powerful ways to reduce turnover and strengthen your workforce.
To navigate today’s recruitment challenges, organizations must strike a balance between technology and human connection, between speed and intentionality. By prioritizing candidate experience, understanding the true dynamics of the hiring funnel, and using data to guide improvements, post-acute care leaders can build recruitment strategies that support not just staffing needs but sustainable organizational health.