The costs of human resources consume a disproportionate percentage of the hospital's operating budget when compared to the operating budget of other industries. Within these costs two related issues--nursing shortage and nursing recruitment--are particularly relevant to development of nontraditional staff development roles. Traditionally, staff development educators have related to these issues (recruitment, shortage, labor expenses) post-employment only due to their primary areas of concentration--orientation, inservice education, continuing education. Decatur Memorial Hospital, Decatur, Illinois, has developed/implemented a four-prong nontraditional pre-employment responsibility area for staff development educators that emphasizes their interaction with prospective employees. The first prong is participation in the formal educational processes of baccalaureate nursing students who utilize the hospital for clinical experiences and in teaching introductory sessions for faculty and students. The second prong of pre-employment staff development activities focuses on a weekend recruitment effort. A summer earn/learn program for supplemental learning has evolved as the third prong. The fourth prong is assessment of entry level competence. (YLB)