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How to hire a student nurse

Student nurse hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring student nurses in the United States:

  • There are currently 153,990 student nurses in the US, as well as 578,210 job openings.
  • Student nurses are in the highest demand in Olympia, WA, with 65 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire a student nurse is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new student nurse to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a student nurse, step by step

To hire a student nurse, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a student nurse:

Here's a step-by-step student nurse hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a student nurse job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new student nurse
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a student nurse do?

A Student Nurse is responsible for treating and taking care of a patient's needs while upholding all the rules and medical regulations of a hospital or clinic. They work and function under the supervision of a Clinical Instructor while still gaining practical experience. Furthermore, among the duties of a Student Nurse revolves around following guidelines given by superiors, administering medication according to schedule, dressing patients, handing meals and changing beds, gathering and charting data, and coordinating with the instructor at all times.

Learn more about the specifics of what a student nurse does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the student nurse you need to hire. Certain student nurse roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a student nurse to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a student nurse that fits the bill.

    This list presents student nurse salaries for various positions.

    Type of Student NurseDescriptionHourly rate
    Student NurseRegistered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.$12-25
    Clinical Research NurseA clinical research nurse is responsible for conducting research studies on various health conditions, illness treatments, and healthcare methodologies, analyzing existing scientific research to make new reports. Clinical research nurses also communicate with other health professionals and health organizations for their insights and recommendations for a specific medical study, ensuring to report their findings to doctors and medical researchers for further validation and clinical trials... Show more$21-39
    Nurse ExternThe job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies... Show more$13-22
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Patients
    • Vital Signs
    • Direct Patient Care
    • Administer Medications
    • IV
    • CPR
    • Med-Surg
    • Catheter
    • Wound Care
    • Mental Health
    • Direct Supervision
    • Blood Pressure
    • Infection Control
    • Surgery
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
    • Experience in plastics, general, podiatry, ortho, gyn, GI and pain services
    • Administer intravenous infusions, PO, IM, IVP, SubQ prescriptions and monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
    • Provide competent nursing care within scope of practice on the Med-Surg, and ICU floor as a student nurse.
    • Experience inserting IVs, total patient care, charting, and logging with SRHS computer system on multiple MED-SURG units.
    • Provide general patient care ADL's, administering dressing changes, providing nurses notes, and other aide duties for patient.
    More student nurse duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your student nurse job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A student nurse salary can vary based on several factors:
    • Location. For example, student nurses' average salary in alabama is 64% less than in hawaii.
    • Seniority. Entry-level student nurses earn 50% less than senior-level student nurses.
    • Certifications. A student nurse with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a student nurse's salary.

    Average student nurse salary

    $37,281yearly

    $17.92 hourly rate

    Entry-level student nurse salary
    $26,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 29, 2025

    Average student nurse salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$53,258$26
    2Nevada$43,317$21
    3New York$42,809$21
    4Arizona$41,764$20
    5Wisconsin$41,497$20
    6Massachusetts$39,924$19
    7Colorado$39,266$19
    8Maryland$38,944$19
    9Michigan$36,781$18
    10Montana$36,131$17
    11Virginia$35,985$17
    12Pennsylvania$35,896$17
    13Illinois$35,844$17
    14Texas$33,751$16
    15Oklahoma$33,607$16
    16South Carolina$32,738$16
    17Florida$30,866$15
    18Missouri$30,754$15
    19Tennessee$30,318$15
    20Alabama$26,380$13

    Average student nurse salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Boston Medical Center$64,205$30.8794
    2Carondelet Health System Inc$59,379$28.55
    3GBMC Healthcare$59,356$28.5431
    4University of Maryland Medical System$59,208$28.47220
    5Baystate Health$57,264$27.53165
    6University of St. Francis$56,936$27.3715
    7Huntsville Hospital$55,883$26.8782
    8OSF HealthCare$55,200$26.54131
    9Brattleboro Memorial Hospital$54,966$26.4321
    10Dignity Health$54,905$26.40915
    11Lancaster General Health$54,474$26.19
    12Novant Health$51,537$24.78471
    13Covenant Health System$51,483$24.752
    14LifeBridge Health$51,004$24.528
    15Carondelet High School$50,993$24.52
    16Legacy Health$50,115$24.0948
    17Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center$49,689$23.8920
    18Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System$49,387$23.7438
    19Naperville School District 203$49,103$23.617
    20Tenet Healthcare$48,977$23.551,009
  4. Writing a student nurse job description

    A job description for a student nurse role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a student nurse job description:

    Student nurse job description example

    At Providence, our strength lies in Our Promise of “Know me, care for me, ease my way.” Working at our family of organizations means that regardless of your role, we'll walk alongside you in your career, supporting you so you can support others. We provide best-in-class benefits and we foster an inclusive workplace where diversity is valued, and everyone is essential, heard and respected. Together, our 120,000 caregivers (all employees) serve in over 50 hospitals, over 1,000 clinics and a full range of health and social services across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. As a comprehensive health care organization, we are serving more people, advancing best practices and continuing our more than 100-year tradition of serving the poor and vulnerable.

    About the Team

    Providence has been serving the Pacific Northwest since 1856 when Mother Joseph and four other Sisters of Providence arrived in Vancouver, Washington Territory. Today, Providence is the largest health care provider in Washington located in communities large and small across the state. In western Washington, Providence provides care throughout the greater Puget Sound from Snohomish County to Lewis County.

    Our award-winning and comprehensive medical centers are known for outstanding programs in cancer, cardiology, neurosciences, orthopedics, women's services, emergency and trauma care, pediatrics and neonatal intensive care. Our not-for-profit network also provides a full spectrum of care with leading-edge diagnostics and treatment, outpatient health centers, physician groups and clinics, numerous outreach programs, and hospice and home care.

    We are committed to the principle that every workforce member has the right to work in surroundings that are free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment.

    We are committed to cultural diversity and equal employment for all individuals. It is our policy to recruit, hire, promote, compensate, transfer, train, retain, terminate, and make all other employment-related decisions without regard to race, color, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin (including certain language use restrictions), ancestry, disability (mental and physical including HIV and AIDS), medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, age, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, and military and veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status. We will also provide reasonable accommodation to known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified caregiver or applicant for employment, unless the accommodation would impose undue hardship on the operation of our business.

    We are a community where all people, regardless of differences, are welcome, secure, and valued. We value respect, appreciation, collaboration, diversity, and a shared commitment to serving our communities. We expect that all workforce members in our community will act in ways which reflect a commitment to and accountability for, racial and social justice and equality in the workplace. As such, we will maintain a workplace free of discrimination and harassment based on any applicable legally protected status. We also expect that all workforce members will maintain a positive workplace free from any unacceptable conduct which creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

    Requsition ID: 118958

    Company: Providence Jobs

    Job Category: Nursing-Patient Facing

    Job Function: Nursing

    Job Schedule: Full time

    Job Shift: Night

    Career Track: Nursing

    Department: 3030 INSERVICE EDUCATION NURSING WA PSPH OLYMPIA MAIN 2ND FLOOR CENTRAL AREA

    Address: WA Olympia 413 Lilly Rd NE

    Providence is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Providence does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, disability, veteran, military status, religion, age, creed, national origin, sexual identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by local, state, or federal law.

    PandoLogic. Keywords: Caregiver, Location: Olympia, WA - 98507 , PL: 546662315
  5. Post your job

    To find the right student nurse for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

    • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with student nurses they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit student nurses who meet your education requirements.
    • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your student nurse job on Zippia to find and attract quality student nurse candidates.
    • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting student nurses requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new student nurse

    Once you've selected the best student nurse candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

    It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a student nurse?

Before you start to hire student nurses, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire student nurses pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $37,281 per year for a student nurse, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for student nurses in the US typically range between $12 and $25 an hour.

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