Director Of Nursing Search

Hiring a Director of Nursing - 2026

The Best Ways to Hire a Director of Nursing of 2026

We track 7 search firms, interim providers and hiring options that serve skilled nursing and assisted living operators. Here is how they rank against our published criteria.

Short answer: Cross Country Search, Kirby Bates Associates and B.E. Smith sit at the top of this ranking of 7.

The end-to-end DON and ADON hiring process for skilled nursing and assisted living: job ads, interviews matched to your facility, promote-or-hire decisions and offer strategy. Every option below is weighed against the same five criteria. See how we picked, or read our Hiring a Director of Nursing guides.

By Dorian Iyer Editorial reviewer

Updated

At a glance

Provider Our pick Type Best for
1 Cross Country Search Best overall DON Recruiting Firms multi-facility operators that want national candidate reach
2 Kirby Bates Associates Best for nurse-leader search DON Recruiting Firms a nurse-leadership specialist search
3 B.E. Smith Best for interim-to-permanent Interim DON Coverage interim DON coverage that can convert to a permanent search
4 Hireology Best for in-house search Job Boards & Hiring Platforms running an organized in-house DON search
5 HCR Network Best for independent SNFs DON Recruiting Firms independent SNFs that want a focused direct-hire search
6 Incredible Health Best for direct nurse outreach Job Boards & Hiring Platforms employer-initiated outreach to nurse candidates
7 AAPACN Best for promoting from within Nurse Leader Training & Certification preparing an internal candidate for the DON role

Our picks, ranked

  1. 1
    Best overall

    Cross Country Search

    DON Recruiting Firms

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for multi-facility operators that want national candidate reach

    Compare DON Recruiting Firms Full review coming soon
  2. 2
    Best for nurse-leader search

    Kirby Bates Associates

    DON Recruiting Firms

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for a nurse-leadership specialist search

    Compare DON Recruiting Firms Full review coming soon
  3. 3
    Best for interim-to-permanent

    B.E. Smith

    Interim DON Coverage

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for interim DON coverage that can convert to a permanent search

    Compare Interim DON Coverage Full review coming soon
  4. 4
    Best for in-house search

    Hireology

    Job Boards & Hiring Platforms

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for running an organized in-house DON search

    Compare Job Boards & Hiring Platforms Full review coming soon
  5. 5
    Best for independent SNFs

    HCR Network

    DON Recruiting Firms

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for independent SNFs that want a focused direct-hire search

    Compare DON Recruiting Firms Full review coming soon
  6. 6
    Best for direct nurse outreach

    Incredible Health

    Job Boards & Hiring Platforms

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for employer-initiated outreach to nurse candidates

    Compare Job Boards & Hiring Platforms Full review coming soon
  7. 7
    Best for promoting from within

    AAPACN

    Nurse Leader Training & Certification

    Trade-off Placeholder - the honest catch, added after review.

    Placeholder - our 2-3 sentence take on this provider is written by the editorial team after review.

    What works

    • Added after our review.

    Watch for

    • Added after our review.

    Best for preparing an internal candidate for the DON role

    Compare Nurse Leader Training & Certification Full review coming soon

How we picked

Every option on this page is weighed against the same five criteria, in the same order. Rank follows the criteria; award labels say what each option does best.

  1. 1 Post-acute focus. Experience placing nursing leaders in skilled nursing and assisted living, not only acute care.
  2. 2 Fee and guarantee clarity. Whether the fee basis, replacement guarantee and terms are stated before you sign.
  3. 3 Search process. How candidates are sourced, screened and presented, and how long a typical search runs.
  4. 4 Candidate vetting. License verification, references and attention to a candidate's survey history.
  5. 5 Fit for independent operators. Whether a single-site SNF or small group gets the same attention as a large chain.
Read the full methodology

How to choose

Placeholder - a short guide to choosing among hiring a director of nursing options for an independent SNF or assisted living operator is written by the editorial team.

How much does it cost?

Placeholder - typical cost ranges are added from our DON salary and leadership benchmark and from published pricing.

Option How you pay
Contingency search A percentage of the hire's first-year base salary, owed only when you hire
Retained search A fee paid in stages during the search, whatever the outcome
Interim leader A daily or weekly rate for the length of the assignment, plus travel where it applies

Where to find a search partner

Placeholder - where operators find and engage search firms, interim providers and hiring options, and when each route makes sense, is written by the editorial team.

Frequently asked questions

Questions are being collected

Answers to the questions operators ask most about hiring a director of nursing will appear here.

References

Placeholder - the sources behind this ranking are listed here as the page is filled.

More rankings

Read next

Guides are on the way

Our first hiring a director of nursing guides and provider reviews are being written now. They will appear here as soon as they are published.

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