#252 - Nurse Turnover Costs $61,000 per Replacement: Infirmary Health's Ivy Singley on Hiring in 2026

Featuring Ivy Singley, Director of Employment Services and Workforce Development, Infirmary Health

Replacing one bedside nurse ran just over $61,000 last year. Every single percentage point of RN turnover swings the average hospital's bottom line by roughly $290,000 a year. Treating that as a pipeline problem misses what happens inside the walls every day, and Ivy Singley has spent almost 30 years in those walls.

🚫 Retire the Word "Resilience"

Naming resilience as a core trait tells candidates they will work in chaos. Boomers hear grit. This generation hears sunup to sundown and passes. HR Risk: your job postings may be screening out the people you most want.

🤖 AI Belongs on the Front End, Not the Final Call

Ivy uses AI for screening, sourcing, and executive summaries that let HR hold its own in a strategy conversation. She draws the line at choosing. A resume written by AI reads beautifully until the candidate cannot explain the procedure they claimed. Key Takeaway: screen with the tool, decide with a human.

⏱️ 95% of the Recruiting Cycle Is Waiting

Luke reverse-engineered a system hiring 10,000 people a year with 20 recruiters. Screening to pre-boarding averages 18 days industry-wide, and only about 5% of that is actual work. The rest is a nurse applying at 10pm Saturday and nobody touching it until Monday. Action: attack the queue, not the headcount. No number of recruiters closes that gap.

👥 Same-Day, Multi-Layer Interviews

Infirmary Health interviews with the hiring manager, runs a tour, and puts the candidate in front of a peer panel, often in one day. Candidates behave for the manager and open up with peers, and the hire becomes a collective decision instead of one manager's guess. Careers: infirmaryhealth.org/careers

You cannot hire your way out of a waiting problem, and you cannot automate your way out of a judgment one.