Recruiting healthcare staff
Carers and nurses do not choose on employer, but on schedule, travel distance and rate. A campaign that answers those directly beats a job ad about the organization.
You recruit healthcare staff by advertising per function group and per region with the only things the candidate cares about right now: which shifts, which location, which rate and how fast you call back. For freelance healthcare workers the question differs from salaried staff; those two groups do not belong in the same campaign. In our own campaigns candidates came in at €8.96 to €30.51 per candidate. Leadstars works on a retainer with an implementation fee, guarantees the agreed lead volume and delivers first results within 7 days.
Last updated: 22 September 2026
Key takeaways
- Separate freelance and salaried staff into different campaigns. The arguments, the rate and the sign-up process differ completely.
- Name shift type and region in the ad itself. Without those two a healthcare worker cannot tell whether the message is about her.
- Cost per candidate in our own campaigns: €8.96 to €30.51. That is a Leadstars figure, not a market average.
- Many healthcare candidates respond outside office hours, between shifts. Follow-up that only runs nine to five loses them.
What actually makes healthcare candidates respond
The healthcare market is tight, so nearly everyone you want to reach already has work and regularly gets messages from other agencies. What stands out is specificity: which ward, which shifts, which location, which rate or salary indication and when you can start. Everything missing from that costs you responses.
The process also weighs more heavily than in other sectors. Diplomas, background checks and professional registration make sign-up longer, so strip everything unnecessary from the first form and ask for the rest during the phone call.
- Separate campaigns per function group: care assistant, certified carer, nurse, support worker.
- Advertise on travel distance around the location where the shifts actually are.
- Schedule follow-up in the evening and at weekends, because a large share of responses arrives then.
Candidates and client organizations in healthcare
A healthcare staffing firm has two problems at once: enough people and enough shifts to place them on. We run those as separate systems, so you do not suddenly have eighty sign-ups with nowhere to place them, or the other way round.
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