WILKES-BARRE -- One of our area's largest employers is planning to take on more hires.
Geisinger Health System announced Tuesday it is launching a recruitment effort to hire more than 150 new nurses.
Nursing students at Wilkes University were back to work Tuesday evening in the simulation lab after their winter break. The students are in their junior year and say they're already thinking of the future and what possible jobs will be available when they graduate.
Hearing that Geisinger Health System is launching a recruitment effort to hire more than 150 nurses in northeastern Pennsylvania is great news for them. Many of them already do clinical training at Geisinger.
“Makes me feel like I have a lot of job opportunities right outside of college,” said student Tara McGuire. “And I like Geisinger. I think it's a really nice facility. I'm going there for clinical and I think it's great.”
The new hires would be placed at Geisinger's hospitals in Scranton and the Wilkes-Barre area.
Geisinger is also offering hiring incentives up to $15,000. New hires can choose how they take their incentive.
“Whether they just want to take a sign-on bonus of $10,000, whether they want to take a $15,000 bonus for education reimbursement, or a relocation sign on bonus,” said Tracy Edelstein, Geisinger’s Associate VP of Nursing for the Northeast Region.
“I think it's actually a great opportunity,” said student Katie Fery. “I'm originally from the Lehigh Valley area, so of course, we have Cedar Crest Hospital-Lehigh Valley down there. I think looking to relocate possibly up here once I graduate is a great opportunity, Geisinger's right there and the fact that they have these incentives for us is great coming right out of college.”
“We have a lot of jobs for our nursing graduates in the area,” said Edelstein. “We would love to have them and we're lucky that we have some many great universities and colleges around us.”
Geisinger says the need for more nurses is due to growth within the health system, particularly here in the northeast region.