What’s in a Hospital Name? Should You Go Big or Go Local?
By Aaron Moore, MSN, RN-BC, travel nurse expert
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I recently had a discussion with a student nurse and asked what her plans were post-graduation. She joked that she wanted to work at some big, top notch hospitals as opposed to starting at the smaller, local ones. While I stressed the importance of gaining experience over anything, our conversation got me thinking about my beginnings as a travel nurse and all the incredible experiences I had working at local hospitals--and some big name places, too. Both types of travel nursing jobs helped shape my career.
Starting out
My first travel assignment was in Chula Vista, Calif.,--a suburb of San Diego I had never heard of. It was not a big name facility (still isn’t) and had a small amount of inpatient beds. It was a great learning experience, though, and from there I rolled on to a larger hospital to focus on trauma care. That experience was even better and helped me focus my nursing career on one specialty. I decided to specialize as a cardiac cath lab nurse.
The beauty of travel nursing jobs
Being a travel nurse afforded me the variety I wanted. One night I could be working ortho, the next night I was giving Zofran to a chemo patient. The beauty of travel nursing jobs is that they allow you to pick and choose your job(s). And, as you gain more experience and establish yourself as a trustworthy RN, you can pretty much choose whether you want to go local or big.
I personally was more of a destination person than a “big name” guy. But I still got the chance to build my résumé with some top-ranked hospitals, Magnet hospitals and specialty care.
Advice for other travel nurses
While all hospitals have something to offer, one thing I took away from my assignments was, if you want to pursue a subspecialty in nursing, working for a bigger hospital is a better option. Instead of ICU you can do trauma ICU or cardiac ICU. Plus, larger hospitals have more beds and patients, so that means they need more nurses!
In my years of traveling I have been lucky to work at some awesome places; when you can say you’ve worked at Johns Hopkins, consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the country, well let’s just say it’s a great conversation starter in an interview! I would have never gained the experience I needed and worked in the places I did without travel nursing.
For RNs choosing between travel nursing jobs, I would say, consider all options. Talk to your recruiter about your career goals and let him or her help guide you--whether it is time to go big or go local.
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