Best Hospitals to Work for in California

Career Resources / Job Searching / Best Hospitals California

California is a large state with so many hospitals to consider as your employer. These results for the best hospitals to work at in California are based on several factors. All hospitals listed have been recognized for excellency across multiple platforms (including Glassdoor, Indeed, U.S News etc). These hospitals prioritize these following traits that great employers typically have:

• Benefits
• Growth opportunities
• Employee satisfaction
• Patient satisfaction
• Best hospitals by region

---

Get job matches in your area + answers to all your nursing career questions

Let's get started

What's your current role?

Staff nurse

Manager

Other

---

Benefits

Employers are offering many benefits to bring talented nurses onboard and keep their current nurses happy, contributing to high morale. Some hospitals offer perks like generous vacation and sick leave, discounts, financial assistance for first-time homebuyers, and tuition assistance.

Growth opportunity

This factor is based on whether or not nurses feel there is room for growth and hospitals the prioritize promoting within, instead of hiring out. The healthcare field holds the potential for tons of growth opportunities for nurses. Nurses have many career paths for advancement, and can choose to pursue higher-paying specialties such as nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, nurse anesthetist, and more.

Employee satisfaction

With nurses experiencing job fatigue and burn-out, it’s important to find hospitals that truly values their employees. Employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction go hand and hand. Places that have higher employee satisfaction have great environments for their nurses to work in, good management, are flexible, prioritize teamwork, and offer additional resources and benefits for their staff.

Why does patient satisfaction matter?

Patient satisfaction is one of the best indicators of a great employer. A lot of times, the treatment patients receive are a direct reflection of employee satisfaction. Hospitals that have significantly better work environments, benefits, and staffing generally result in happier nurses. They are more satisfied with their jobs and are likely remain where they work. This results in lower employee turnover, another great factor that results from patient satisfaction.

All hospitals listed below have been recognized as a magnet hospital by the prestigious ANCC Magnet Recognition Program^®.

Best hospitals in Northern California

Stanford Health Care *

Stanford Health Care is a worldwide recognizable institution that has been awarded with many accolades and recognition. Stanford hold a Gold Medal of Honor presented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, Stanford Hospital has also been named to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21.

UC Davis Health *

UC Davis Health is ranked in multiple specialties, and has top honors for nursing excellence. UC Davis Health is also ranked by Newsweek as one of the world’s best hospitals.

UCSF Medical Center & UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals *

UCSF Medical Center is one of the nation’s top 10 hospitals according to U.S. News & World Report. With over 12,000 employees and several locations in San Francisco Bay Area.

Best hospitals in Southern California

Sharp HealthCare *

Sharp HealthCare serves the San Diego area with four acute care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, and employers over 19,000 nurses, staff, and volunteers.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has been consistently ranked as amongst the top ten hospitals in the nation. It has also been recognized as the best medical center in the western region of the United States by U.S. News & World Report.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center *

For three years in a row, Cedars-Sinai has been recognized as The Advisory Board Company’s Workplace of the Year.

Torrance Memorial Medical Center

Torrance Memorial is affiliated with Cedars-Sinai, and has also been recognized as amongst the best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for ten years straight. Torrance is also ranked as the 5th in the Los Angeles region with overall great healthcare.

CHOC Children’s

CHOC is affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, and has a growing pediatric healthcare system.

*Incredible Health helps these hospitals find permanent nurses. Sign up to get matched with nursing jobs!

More California nursing resources

• Best Nursing Schools in California
• A Guide to Nursing in California