| Course | HA255 Human Resources for Health Care Organizations |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Recruitment plan |
| Length | About 940 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Care Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HA255 Unit 3
Nineteen Weeks Without a Staff Sonographer: A Recruitment Plan for a Composite Critical Access Hospital That Prices the Vacancy, Reads a Thin Regional Labor Pool and Ranks Five Sourcing Channels by Expected Yield
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HA255: Human Resources for Health Care Organizations
Unit 3 Recruitment Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The hospital, the region, the wage figures and the channel estimates are composite and bracketed for the writer's own data; wage context comes from the cited federal source.
To and From
To: [Name], Human Resources Business Partner From: [Name], Director of Imaging Services Re: Recruitment plan, Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, 1.0 FTE Date: [date]
Vacancy Summary
One full-time sonographer position, general and vascular, has been open for [nineteen] weeks. A traveling sonographer has covered it on a [13]-week contract at about [$95] an hour, against a staff rate near [$42] plus benefits of about [30] percent. At [40] hours a week, the difference is roughly [$1,940] a week, or more than [$36,000] over the vacancy so far. The traveler's second contract ends in [eight] weeks, and the agency has said a third cannot be guaranteed.
What the Vacancy Costs Besides Money
Without a second sonographer, outpatient vascular studies run [three] weeks out, and [two] referring clinics have begun sending patients to a hospital [55] miles away. Call coverage for after-hours ultrasound falls on the traveler and on the on-call radiologist's patience. Each patient lost to the larger hospital is also a lost follow-up imaging visit.
A Thin Regional Pool
Sonography is a growing occupation nationally, with a median wage well above the median for all workers and faster than average projected growth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). That national picture hides a local one. Within [60] miles, the plan counts [two] hospitals and [three] imaging centers employing sonographers, one sonography program graduating about [ten] students a year, and no unemployed credentialed sonographers known to the department. Two postings over [nineteen] weeks drew [four] applicants, none credentialed in vascular work. The posting has not failed because the ad was weak; it has failed because almost nobody qualified is looking.
What That Means for Strategy
In a market this thin, a passive posting reaches only people already searching. Recruitment research suggests that channels which put the employer in direct contact with likely applicants, such as referrals and school ties, tend to yield applicants who know more about the job and stay longer, while realistic information about the work affects whether an offer is accepted (Breaugh, 2008). The plan therefore puts active channels first.
Five Channels, Ranked by Expected Yield
1. Sonography program partnership. Owner: Director of Imaging. Start: week 1. Budget: [$6,000] for two clinical rotation stipends and a [$5,000] retention-linked tuition award for one student who commits to [two] years. Expected yield: one hire by graduation in [month], the highest odds but a later start.
2. Employee referral bonus. Owner: Human Resources. Start: week 1. Budget: [$2,500] paid half at hire and half at [six] months. Expected yield: modest, but staff in the region know sonographers personally.
3. Direct outreach to registered sonographers within [100] miles through the professional registry's directory and the state society's job board. Owner: Recruiter. Start: week 2. Budget: [$800]. Expected yield: [one] or [two] conversations a month.
4. Conversion offer to the current traveler. Owner: Director of Imaging. Start: week 3. Budget: a [$7,500] sign-on payment and relocation of up to [$4,000]. Expected yield: uncertain but immediate if accepted.
5. Paid national posting with a rural relocation message. Owner: Recruiter. Start: week 4. Budget: [$1,200]. Expected yield: low but wide.
Why the Traveler Is Fourth, Not First
Converting the traveler would end the premium at once, but travelers often choose the work for its variety and pay. Making the offer in week three, after the referral and school channels are running, avoids building the whole plan on one person's answer.
What Applicants Will Be Told
The posting and every outreach message will state the call schedule, the vascular share of the work and the distance to the nearest city. Applicants' attraction to an employer is shaped by job and organization characteristics, and by how recruiters present them, so the message will be specific about call, scheduling and the small-team setting (Chapman et al., 2005).
Twelve Weeks of Actions
Weeks 1 to 2: approve the budget; contact the program director; announce the referral bonus. Weeks 3 to 4: make the traveler an offer; launch the national posting; begin registry outreach. Weeks 5 to 8: interview applicants within [five] business days of receipt; host a student on rotation. Weeks 9 to 12: extend offers; decide whether to fund a third traveler contract as a bridge.
Budget Request
Total new spending over twelve weeks: about [$27,000], compared with roughly [$23,000] in traveler premium over the same period. If the plan produces a staff hire by week [16], it pays for itself within [one] year.
Tracking the Pipeline
Measures, reviewed every two weeks: applicants by channel, applicants meeting minimum requirements, interviews, offers, acceptances, days from posting to accepted offer and weekly traveler premium. A channel producing no qualified applicant by week [eight] loses its budget to the channel that is working.
Risks
The student partnership may produce a graduate who fails the credential exam. The traveler may decline. Neighboring hospitals may raise rates. Each risk has a fallback: a bridge traveler contract, a retention stipend for the student and a market rate review at week [eight].
Decision Requested
Approve the [$27,000] budget and the sign-on terms by [date] so that week one can begin before the traveler's contract enters its final month.
References
Breaugh, J. A. (2008). Employee recruitment: Current knowledge and important areas for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 18(3), 103-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.07.003
Chapman, D. S., Uggerslev, K. L., Carroll, S. A., Piasentin, K. A., & Jones, D. A. (2005). Applicant attraction to organizations and job choice: A meta-analytic review of the correlates of recruiting outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), 928-944. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.5.928
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024). Diagnostic medical sonographers and cardiovascular technologists and technicians, including vascular technologists. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/diagnostic-medical-sonographers.htm
The Purdue Global HA255 Unit 3 instructions
Unit 3 commonly asks students to prepare a recruitment plan for a clinical role that the organization has struggled to fill. Prompts usually call for a description of the vacancy and its cost, an analysis of the labor market, a set of sourcing strategies with reasons, a timeline, a budget and a way to measure results. Some instructors ask that the plan be addressed to a human resources partner or administrator as a proposal. Expect to use labor market data from a federal or professional source, cite recruitment research in APA style and keep the organization composite. A plan that ranks its strategies and explains the ranking is usually stronger than one that simply lists every possible channel.
How this HA255 Unit 3 example is built
The sample is written as an internal proposal from an imaging director. It opens with the vacancy and the weekly premium paid to the traveler, then the referrals lost to a larger hospital. A labor market section cites the federal occupational handbook, and the highlighted sentence says the posting failed because almost nobody qualified is looking. A section cites recruitment research on active channels. Five channels follow in ranked order, with a margin note on ranking by yield. Sections explain why the traveler offer comes fourth, what applicants will be told, the twelve-week actions, budget, pipeline tracking with a second note, risks and the decision requested.
HA255 Unit 3 rubric: what earns full points
Recruitment plan rubrics in HA 255 tend to award points for defining the need, analyzing the labor market, choosing strategies, planning a timeline and budget, measuring results, using evidence and presenting professionally. Need points depend on stating the vacancy and what it costs to leave open. Market points go to local and national data with sources. Strategy points reward channels matched to the market, with reasons. Timeline and budget points require dates, owners and amounts. Measurement points need metrics such as applicants by channel and time to accepted offer. Evidence points reward recruitment research. Presentation points cover proposal format and clarity. Plans that compare total cost with the cost of the vacancy often reach the top band.
Common HA255 Unit 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Plans often lose points by listing every channel, job boards, social media, fairs and referrals, with no view of which will work in this market. Another gap is a budget with no comparison to what the vacancy already costs. Some plans use only national data and miss the local supply. Others set no measures, so nobody knows when to change course. Start with what the open position costs each week, count the qualified people within reach, rank channels by expected yield and give each one an owner and a date. Add a rule for moving money away from a channel that produces nothing, and the plan becomes something a director could approve.
Get an HA255 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Name the vacancy your Unit 3 prompt describes, or a real hard-to-fill role near you, and include the instructions and rubric with it. The plan arrives within 24-48h, channels ranked and costed, every figure marked as composite so it can be swapped for local data. There is no charge for a first sample. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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- HA255 Unit 5: Onboarding Plan
- HA255 Unit 6: Staffing Plan
- HA255 Unit 7: Performance Documentation
- HA255 Unit 8: Compensation Analysis
- HA255 Unit 9: Seminar Reflection
- HA255 Unit 10: Personnel Case Analysis
HA255 Unit 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HA255 Unit 3 sample paper?
The complete HA255 Unit 3 recruitment plan is available here, pricing a sonographer vacancy at a composite critical access hospital and ranking five sourcing channels, with three sources. Your own hard-to-fill role can be planned the same way.
What does an open sonographer position cost in HA255 Unit 3?
Compare what the organization pays to cover the role, such as traveler or overtime rates, with the staff rate and benefits, then add lost revenue such as referrals sent elsewhere.
Which recruitment channels work best in rural health care?
Active channels such as school partnerships, referrals and direct outreach often outperform passive postings when few qualified people are searching.
What metrics should a recruitment plan track?
Applicants by channel, qualified applicants, interviews, offers, acceptances, days to accepted offer and the cost of temporary coverage.
Should the HA255 Unit 3 plan include a budget?
Yes. Most instructors want amounts for each channel and a total compared with the cost of leaving the position open.