By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

Most “top hospital”, “best hospital” or similar research surveys generally have the best interests of the patients in mind, as they should since patients are the reasons hospitals exist in the first place. However, the connection between happy patients and satisfied caregivers is unmistakable. There are many good reasons why nurses and travel nursing jobs routinely gravitate toward finalists on various best hospital surveys. The lists are based on specific methodology and sorted by a wide variety of categories so that both patients and nurses find the facility that best meets their needs. Ranking criteria include a hospital’s ability to handle both routine and complicated cases in various specialty areas. While most patients and nurses are limited to researching hospitals in their area, travel nurses have the benefit of using the lists to choose preferred locations of future assignments in their specialty area.

Here are some entries from U.S. News & World Report’s 2008 “Best Hospitals” list in some of the most popular travel nursing states. The star means that the hospital earned “honor roll” status by scoring high in overall excellence in six or more specialties. Most of the top hospitals are in California, where it’s no secret that nurses and travel nurses are currently in great demand..

California Travel Nursing

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, L.A*: Top specialty areas are pediatrics, respiratory disorders and orthopedics

Stanford Hospital and Clinics*: Stanford earns high specialty scores in the areas of geriatrics, neurology & neurosurgery and orthopedics.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, L.A*: The well-known healing center for Hollywood celebrities specializes in oncology, gynecology, geriatrics and kidney disease.

Texas Travel Nursing

University of Texas MD. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston: Highest scores in gynecology

Methodist Hospital, Houston: Highest ranked specialties include geriatrics, orthopedics and oncology

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas: Gynecology, Kidney Disease and Urology

Florida Travel Nursing

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa: Oncology

Shands at the University of Florida, Gainseville: Oncology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Kidney Disease

Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach: Neurology, Neurosurgery, Geriatrics

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.