You’ve been offered a travel nursing assignment, and the contract looks pretty good—but you know nothing about the hospital.
- What if it’s seriously understaffed?
- What if patients are unsatisfied with the care they receive?
- What if high mortality and readmission rates put your license at risk?
Thankfully, you don’t have to accept a job blind—and you shouldn’t.
Several websites offer reliable data on hospital safety and other quality rankings that can help you find the best hospitals for travel nursing jobs.
Learn how to use CMS, HCAHPS, and Leapfrog data to evaluate hospital quality before signing a travel contract or making any other work commitment.
Why finding top hospitals for travel nurses matters
Travel nurses often focus on pay rate, location, and start date, but the hospital is your day-to-day environment for 8–13 weeks. A facility with poor safety performance, weak communication, or low patient experience scores can mean more stress and less support.
Common pain points include unsafe patient ratios, poor communication between staff and leadership, high turnover, and burnout in understaffed units. These don't appear in your contract, but they will affect your daily experience.
Checking hospital quality data before accepting an assignment helps you avoid bad experiences. This guide gives you a practical way to find the best hospitals for nurses to work in using publicly available data.
CMS hospital ratings for travel nurses
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes hospital quality data on Medicare.gov and data.cms.gov, covering a variety of measures across 5 areas of quality:
- Mortality: Measures examine death rates within 30 days of hospitalization.
- Safety of care: Measures examine potentially preventable injuries and complications arising from care provided during a hospitalization.
- Readmission: Measures examine returns to the hospital following a hospitalization.
- Patient experience: This score is based on HCAHPS survey results.
- Timely and effective care: Measures examine how often or how quickly hospitals provide care that research shows gets the best results for patients.
CMS includes an overall star rating (1–5 stars) that provides a quick signal from the data. A 5-star hospital performs well across multiple domains; a 1- to 2-star hospital likely has significant issues. But the star rating is a snapshot, so dig into underlying measures too.
HCAHPS scores for travel nurses
HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) measures patient experience through surveys covering 10 measures, including:
- Communication with nurses and doctors
- Staff responsiveness
- Discharge information
- Cleanliness
- Overall rating
- Willingness to recommend
Each of these 10 measures has an individual rating (1–5 stars). There is also an HCAHPS Summary Star Rating.
CMS updates the HCAHPS Star Ratings each quarter.
For travel nurses, HCAHPS hints at communication culture and staff responsiveness. If patients report slow responses or weak nurse communication, that could reflect understaffing or workflow problems affecting travelers, too.
Leapfrog hospital safety grade for travel nurses
The Leapfrog Group's Hospital Safety Grade assigns general acute-care hospitals A, B, C, D, or F based on their ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections. Leapfrog uses up to 32 evidence-based measures combining process/structural measures (staffing, protocols) with outcome measures (infections, falls, medication errors).
Grades are biannual; spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grades were released in May 2026.
For travel nurses, Leapfrog gives a fast safety snapshot. An A or B means the hospital takes safety seriously. A C, D, or F suggests safety problems that could affect your work.
Step 1: How to research hospitals as a travel nurse
Before pulling data, confirm exactly which hospital you're evaluating, especially if it's part of a system with multiple facilities.
Start with active or recent offers
Research only facilities where you've received contract offers or are actively interviewing.
Confirm the exact facility name, system, and location
Hospitals often have similar names within the same system. Verify you're pulling data for the exact facility where you'll work, not just the brand name. Leapfrog notes that some system-level CMS reporting can cause shared data across facilities, so verifying the specific hospital is critical.
Identify your priorities
What matters most?
- Safety (infections, errors)
- Patient experience (communication, responsiveness)
- Clinical outcomes (readmissions)
- All of the above
Your priorities guide which parts of CMS, Leapfrog, and HCAHPS to focus on.
Step 2: Using CMS hospital ratings
Here’s how to check CMS hospital ratings step by step:
- Go to CMS Care Compare.
- Search by city/state and hospital name.
- Verify you have the correct facility (check address, phone, system).
- View the overall star rating (1–5 stars).
- Click into quality domains to review safety, outcomes, patient experience, etc.
How to interpret CMS ratings
Star ratings at a glance:
- 5 stars: Much above average
- 4 stars: Above average
- 3 stars: Average
- 2 stars: Below average
- 1 star: Much below average
A 2- or 3-star rating shouldn't automatically rule out an assignment, but it can trigger questions. Ask whether the lower score reflects staffing challenges, patient mix, or a specific service-line issue rather than hospital-wide problems.
Step 3: Using HCAHPS scores
Here’s how to check a hospital’s HCAHPS scores:
- Follow the same steps as for the CMS hospital ratings.
- Review the inpatient survey rating and results.
Key domains for travel nurses
Low nurse communication (<70%) might indicate:
- Chronic understaffing
- Communication breakdowns
- High turnover
- Poor teamwork
Strong scores signal:
- Supportive environment
- Better staffing levels
- Strong communication culture
Use HCAHPS alongside other quality information, not as the only factor.
Step 4: Using Leapfrog hospital safety grade
Here’s how to check hospital safety scores before a travel nurse job:
- Go to Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.
- Search by city, state, zip code, or hospital.
- Confirm the grade applies to your exact facility.
- Note the letter grade: A, B, C, D, or F.
How to read Leapfrog grades
A grade of C, D, or F should prompt questions:
- What safety initiatives are in place in the unit?
- How has the safety grade changed over the last year?
- What's the current nurse-to-patient staffing ratio?
A grade of A or B signals a strong safety culture—positive for ICUs, ERs, or ORs.
Note: Not every hospital is graded. Hospital Safety Grades were not assigned to 450 hospitals that did not participate in the 2024 or 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Survey. If your hospital lacks a grade, rely more on CMS and HCAHPS.
Step 5: Build a hospital ratings snapshot
You have researched each hospital and compiled the data. Now you’re ready for the next step: how to find the best hospitals for travel nursing from your available options.
Create a comparison table to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each hospital.
This becomes your hospital vetting dashboard. Over time, it helps spot patterns in facilities you prefer.
Balancing data with priorities
No hospital is perfect. Weigh ratings against salary, location, and clinical goals too.
Prioritize data when:
- Working high-acuity units (ICU, ER, OR)
- Travel nursing for the first time
- Considering longer contracts (13 weeks)
- Choosing from multiple offers with similar pay
Location/pay may outweigh data when:
- Seeking a specific city
- Considering shorter contracts (8 weeks)
- Prioritizing significantly higher pay
- Seeking specialized experience (trauma, transplant)
Trade-off example: A travel nurse may choose a lower-pay contract at an “A” hospital for better safety rather than a higher-pay contract at a “C” hospital with staffing issues.
The goal is informed decisions, not perfection.
Talking to recruiters about data
Use non-confrontational scripts:
- "I noticed this hospital's Leapfrog grade improved—what changes have you seen on the unit?"
- "CMS shows work on infection rates. How does that show up for nurses?"
- "HCAHPS nurse communication is lower than average. What's the night ratio?"
- "What do past travelers say about onboarding here?"
Green flags: Leaders acknowledge issues, give specific examples, and show transparency.
Red flags: Leaders provide defensive answers, offer vague explanations, and lack awareness.
If a recruiter can't answer, dig deeper before committing.
Red flags in hospital quality data for travel nurses
Use these as conversation prompts, not automatic deal-breakers.
Additional quality signals
Magnet designation: This indicates nursing excellence, evidence-based practice, and better nurse support. Search "[hospital name] Magnet designation."
Level I/II trauma center: Hospitals at these levels have higher-acuity cases and typically provide better resources and stronger support.
Hospital type:
- Critical access: Rural, smaller, fewer resources
- Community: Midsize, variable staffing
- Academic: Larger, specialized, more training support
Factor these into decisions based on your goals.
FAQ
What if a hospital doesn't have a Leapfrog grade?
Not all hospitals are graded. Use CMS and HCAHPS instead.
How often are hospital ratings updated?
- CMS: Annual updates (latest released April 2026)
- Leapfrog: Biannual updates (Spring 2026 released May 2026)
- HCAHPS: Quarterly updates (latest released May 2026)
Can I trust patient survey scores?
Survey scores reflect patient experiences and hint at staffing issues, which can be helpful information for travel nurses. However, they are best used alongside other metrics.
What if hospital ratings conflict?
Ask recruiters questions about the low scores and cross-check with traveler reviews.
Where can I find travel nurse hospital reviews?
Check rankings on nursing platforms, such as the Nursa Best Facilities of 2025 awards, travel nursing threads on Reddit, and nursing communities on social media platforms like Facebook. Also, request recruiter feedback.
Travel nurse checklist for vetting hospitals
- Confirmed the exact facility name and location
- Looked up CMS ratings for each hospital
- Reviewed HCAHPS scores, especially regarding nurse communication
- Checked Leapfrog grade (if available)
- Asked at least 2 data-informed questions with the recruiter
- Cross-checked data with traveler feedback
- Balanced data with pay, location, and goals
Complete these before signing.
How to choose a travel nurse assignment
It may not be realistic to look for hospitals with perfect rankings and safety scores. However, using CMS, Leapfrog, and HCAHPS scores can help you choose the best travel nursing assignment for you based on your goals and priorities.
Another way to assess the fit of a particular hospital or other healthcare facility is to pick up PRN shifts. If you like the work environment, you can confidently accept a travel nursing contract there or block-book PRN shifts through Nursa.
Know your options. Learn more about picking up PRN shifts as a travel nurse here.
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