Recruitment: Build a Stronger Workforce

Learn innovative approaches to recruit and bolster the pediatric workforce now and into the future.

Published Feb. 24, 2026|

Children’s hospitals and health systems are evolving the way they recruit their workforce, create environments for teams to thrive, and optimize their staffing. Discover their solutions for rising contract labor costs, staffing shortages in pediatric behavioral health, and a lack of subspecialists.

About Children's Hospital Association

Children’s Hospital Association is the national voice of more than 200 children’s hospitals, advancing child health through innovation in the quality, cost, and delivery of care.

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Grow From Within

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How to Solve a Staffing Shortage by Reskilling Employees

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles trained nonclinical staff for patient care roles with an in-house curriculum and experiential learning opportunity.

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Building a Workforce From Within

Akron Children’s removed barriers to grow its own workforce while giving underserved communities economic opportunities.

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Upskilling Employees to Create a Respiratory Therapist Pipeline

Nationwide Children’s Hospital offers a blueprint for recruiting respiratory therapists from within.

Rethink Recruitment

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How to Grow Your Workforce Fast

Arkansas Children’s expanded its workforce by more than 20% in three years.

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How to Reduce Contract Labor

A children’s hospital dramatically reduced its agency staffing hours and saw a 25% reduction in first-year turnover.

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Filling the Void in Respiratory Care

A three-pronged recruitment strategy nearly doubled the number of new hires in respiratory care at one hospital system.

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Getting Ahead of the Hiring Curve

An internally built tool enables this hospital to fill nursing vacancies before they occur.

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How to Onboard 350 Nurse Techs in 2 Years

A children’s hospital expands its nurse tech program to develop a stream of skilled, prepared talent.

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Go Broad or Go Home: Sustaining a Rural Workforce

A health system is taking an expansive approach to bolster its workforce and improve economic opportunity in its state.

Build Behavioral Health Capacity

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Building Tomorrow's Behavioral Health Workforce Today

How one children’s hospital is addressing the mental and behavioral health workforce shortage by investing in training and educational programs.

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A Behavioral Health Solution With Proven Outcomes

An internal nursing team empowers the frontline staff to care for behavioral health patients—and the results speak for themselves.

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A Resourceful Way to Meet Behavioral Health Staffing Demands

An unlikely labor pool provides timely relief for the behavioral health crisis amid staffing shortages.

Seek Students

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This Internship Is Changing Lives in Underserved Communities

The program provides under-resourced communities with career opportunities while tapping new pipeline of diverse talent.

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Pilot Internship Program Seeks to Grow Vital Research Role

Children’s Hospital of Orange County seeks to attract and retain clinical research coordinators.

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Scholarship Program Attracts Nurses, Alleviates Staffing Shortages

Children’s Hospital of New Orleans has launched a program that puts a new spin on a tried-and-true recruitment initiative.

Attract All Generations

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4 Keys to Unlocking the Potential Workforce

Younger workers identify what they expect from employers and how children’s hospitals can make it happen.

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How to Recruit and Retain Gen Z

A conversation with two experts on the how to succeed with the incoming workforce.

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These Are the Employee Benefits Each Generation Wants

Learn generational expectations to create the perfect employee benefits package.

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Solutions for a Sustainable Workforce

Learn how children's hospitals and health systems are addressing workforce challenges through innovative initiatives and sustainable strategies.

Feb. 20, 2026
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Retention

Support your staff and engage employees to improve retention and reduce burnout.

Feb. 24, 2026
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Innovation

Prepare for the next generation of pediatric health care workers with inclusive, data-informed strategies.

Feb. 24, 2026
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Solutions for a Sustainable Workforce

Learn how children's hospitals and health systems are addressing workforce challenges through innovative initiatives and sustainable strategies.

Feb. 20, 2026
large card/cht_workforce_engage_employees0324

Retention

Support your staff and engage employees to improve retention and reduce burnout.

Feb. 24, 2026
large card/cht_workforce_invest_future0324

Innovation

Prepare for the next generation of pediatric health care workers with inclusive, data-informed strategies.

Feb. 24, 2026