Top 10 nurse-friendly hospitals in the US

As competition intensifies for nursing jobs in hospitals, nurses looking for work may want to set their sights on organizations considered the most "nurse-friendly" in the country.

The list, released by Top RN to BSN, a website dedicated to nursing career and education information, features 30 hospitals in the United States that provide the best benefits, support teams and work environments for nurses.

These hospitals offer educational, training and career advancement programs, as well as numerous nursing staff awards, author Amy Bell writes.

The top 10 hospitals are:

  1. Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Ind., where satisfaction levels went above and beyond the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators standard in 2013--for the third consecutive year, Bell writes.

  2. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, which tied for first place on U.S. News & World Report's 2011 list of best graduate schools for nursing.

  3. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, which won the DAISY Award for outstanding nursing contributions and eight Nurse Exemplar awards, and was designated a "Destination Nursing" hospital by the Healthcare Advisory Board.

  4. Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, Fla., which offers an "Emerging Leaders" program for nurses who want to advance in the hospital system, as well as $5,000 in aid for first-time homebuyers.

  5. West Virginia University Hospitals in Morgantown, W.Va., which allows scheduling flexibility--staff members can choose four-week timetables and regular or rotating shifts, while working weekends can earn top compensation.

  6. Houston Methodist Hospital, which offers at least eight compensated holidays a year on top of paid leave and tuition repayment.

  7. Children's Medical Center of Dallas, where nurses are well represented in organizational committees and participate in shaping their decentralized departments.

  8. Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I., where the medical-surgical unit received the Beacon Award for nursing excellence in late 2013, the hospital's second such award.

  9. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, which is the main teaching hospital for the Harvard Medical School. It hosts the Norman Knight Nursing Center for Clinical and Professional Development, where nurses further their educations and build on their skills through programs that feature the latest data.

  10. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., which offers a continuing nursing education program, giving nurses the chance to attend conferences that detail the most up-to-date practice developments and research.

To learn more:
- here's the full list