The List: Top rated children’s hospitals

Thus far, most of our lists exploring the top places for nurses to work have been centered around facilities located in specific regions of the U.S. But this week, we want to change things up a bit and look at the best children’s hospitals to work at, as rated in our Nurse’s Guide to Hospitals.

If you’ve been following along with our regional accounts, you’ll remember that a couple of children’s facilities have already popped up on our West Coast and big cities lists. We’ll exclude those two from this list and introduce some other great institutions serving the needs of children.

Do you work at an exceptional workplace or have a question about a potential employer? Visit The Nurse’s Guide to Hospitals to rate, review and ask your questions in the comments! The Scrubsmag.com community will help you find the answers.

1. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford
Palo Alto, Calif.

Packard Children’s Hospital is located on the campus of Stanford University and has a large network of community and outreach services around the San Francisco Bay area, as well as the greater Pacific Northwest region. The hospital was ranked in 10 out of 10 pediatric specialties by the U.S. News & World Report.

The facility offers a large number of career advancement and professional development options, including scholarships, a new graduate nurse program, specialized training and a Professional Nursing Development Program. Nurses at the management level and above attend a five-month leadership academy.

2. Janet Weis Children’s Hospital
Danville, Pa.

The Janet Weis Children’s Hospital is part of the Geisinger Health System, which serves more than 2.6 million residents of central and northeastern Pennsylvania. The hospital is located on the campus of the Geisinger Medical Center and is the region’s only tertiary care pediatric hospital.

More than 2,000 nurses work in the system, and all receive access to a career enhancement program in addition to traditional benefits. The system also is partnered with a number of nursing schools in the region, including University of Scranton, Marywood College, Bloomsburg University and Thomas Jefferson University School of Nursing at Geisinger.

3. Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital
Houston

Children’s Memorial Hermann is one of 11 hospitals in the Memorial Hermann health system that serves the greater Houston area. With 240 beds, plus 68 beds in the Women’s Center, the facility is one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country.

The health network offers scholarships for nurses wishing to obtain certification in a variety of specialties, and also offers a number of in-house educational opportunities. The latter includes cross-training at other hospitals in the system.

4. North Carolina Children’s Hospital
Chapel Hill, N.C.

This 150-bed hospital is part of the UNC Health System, and is located at the University of North Carolina along with other UNC Hospitals including the UNC Cancer Hospital and Neurosciences Hospital. The Children’s Hospital currently is ranked in six out of 10 children’s specialties by U.S. News.

Along with the rest of the health system, the hospital offers a New Graduate Nurses program, as well as programs for continuing your education as you work. For the male nurses out there, the system has been named a Best Workplace for Men in Nursing by the American Assembly for Men in Nursing.

5. Our Children’s House at Baylor
Dallas

Our Children’s House at Baylor strives to make itself seem little like a hospital, and treats children from infancy through the age of 18. The Baylor system also includes nine outpatient clinics for children throughout the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The system offers more than 200 free, on-site education classes every year for nurses, and also offers tuition reimbursement. Nurses who participate in and complete the system’s ASPIRE continuing education program are eligible for a monetary bonus.