By Aubrey Schieuer
This month’s State Spotlight takes us to nifty New Hampshire! The Granite State is known for its colorful foliage, independent spirit, and beautiful covered bridges. Read on to see why New Hampshire is the perfect place for your next Travel Nursing adventure!
Travel Nursing in New Hampshire
The Granite State is known for its plentiful tourism opportunities, as well as stable Travel Nurse jobs at many different hospitals. Travel Nurses in New Hampshire will appreciate how they can see the sights while gaining valuable experience in this lovely New England state!
New Hampshire is home to about 31 hospitals — 3 of which meet high enough standards to be ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 2018/2019 Best Hospitals list. That includes their #1-ranked New Hampshire hospital, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which is nationally ranked in 1 specialty, in addition to being ranked “High Performing” in seven additional adult specialties and seven procedures/conditions. Rounding out the top three overall best hospitals in New Hampshire are: Catholic Medical Center in Manchester and the Concord Hospital in Concord.
U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 “Best States” list put New Hampshire at the top as the #2 state in the country. Along with its high score overall, New Hampshire ranked #1 for opportunity, #4 for natural environment, and #5 for education! Also, Livability.com ranked Concord, Exeter, Lebanon, Manchester, Nashua, Dover, and Rochester as among the best places to live in Iowa.
As for licensing, New Hampshire is not a walk-through state, but it is a NURSYS and a compact state. Click here for more, up-to-date info on licensing in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Fast Facts
State Nickname: Granite State
Capital: Concord
Largest City: Manchester
National Parks: 1
State Parks: 93
National Historic and Natural Landmarks: 11
State Motto: “Live free or die.”
State Flower: Purple lilac
State Tree: White birch
State Bird: Purple finch
State Rock: Granite
New Hampshire was the 9th state.
New Hampshire is bordered by Quebec, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Of the thirteen original colonies, New Hampshire was the first to declare independence from England – a full 6 months before the Declaration of Independence was signed!
The first free public library in the United States was built in Petersborough, New Hampshire in 1833.
Famous people from New Hampshire include stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman, poet Robert Frost, former president Franklin Pierce, author Dan Brown, actor Adam Sandler, astronaut Alan Shepard, actress Mandy Moore and late night host Seth Meyers.
New Hampshire is the only state where you aren’t required by law to wear a seat belt.
The world’s largest arcade, Funspot Family Fun Center, has over 300 classic arcade games.
The first alarm clock was invented by Levi Hutchins in Concord, New Hampshire.
New Hampshire has the second highest concentration of vanity plates, second only to Virginia. The people here love self-expression and personalization!
Born in Newport, New Hampshire, Sarah Josepha Hale is widely known for two things. One, she wrote the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” And two, she’s responsible for the nationwide celebration of Thanksgiving. She wrote letters to five presidents advocating for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. Her letter to President Abraham Lincoln succeeded.
The movie “Jumanji”, starring Robin Williams, was filmed in Keene.
Long, long ago there were over 400 covered bridges throughout New Hampshire. Nowadays, there are fewer than 75, but they’re as memorable as they are beautiful. Some of these cute covered bridges have been there since the 1800s. So charming!
New Hampshire has the shortest coastline in the United States, with just 18 miles of coast.
The snowmobile was invented in 1913 by Virgil White in Ossipee, New Hampshire. The inventor was a Ford dealer who created a conversion kit for Model T cars, by adding a set of wooden runners.
The motto of New Hampshire, “Live Free or Die” comes from the Revolutionary War General John Stark. This Hero of Bennington also wrote, “Death is not the worst of evils.”
The famous Clydesdales horses of Anheuser-Busch hail from Merrimack, New Hampshire.
There’s no sales tax in New Hampshire – perfect for a shopping spree or picking up some souvenirs!
To Do & See in New Hampshire
For such a small state, there’s a ton of things to do in New Hampshire! From history to nature to food, you’ll love every moment of your Travel Nursing assignment in New Hampshire.
Take a trip to Strawberry Banke, a 400-year-old village in Portsmouth. Stroll through this outdoor living history museum of 32 houses and 10 gardens, preserved from centuries ago. Is air-conditioned history more your style? Check out the Rochester Opera House and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in, you guessed it, Rochester.
New Hampshire is big into tourism, so you’ll have plenty to keep yourself busy while off the clock. The White Mountains are perfect for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and mountain-climbing. In fact, New Hampshire got the nickname, “Switzerland of America” when early visitors saw how beautiful the White Mountains were and thought of Switzerland. All in all, New Hampshire has 48 mountains that are taller than 4,000 feet. Don’t forget to catch your breath!
Rumney is the site of the Polar Caves, where you can explore rocky chasms that were formed during the last Ice Age. Rumney is also a great place to go rock climbing. At the crag called Waimea, there’s a unique rock type called shist, giving the rock a grainy quality. Rumney, New Hampshire has over 30 different crags for you to test your mettle on. Climb on!
New Hampshire has a history of tapping trees to make maple syrup. There are over 150 sugarhouses there, meaning you’ll have lots of opportunities to sample some tasty syrup! Speaking of trees, New Hampshire practically invented the term “leaf peeper.” Every fall, the beautiful autumn foliage attracts lots of leaf-loving lookers! The colors are truly remarkable at Lake Winnipesaukee.
Close to the White Mountains is Mount Monadnock, which has the honor of being featured in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s and Henry David Thoreau’s writings. Around 125,000 hikers climb Mount Monadnock every year, making it the second most hiked mountain in the world. The views from this easy hike are marvelous. You can even see the Boston skyline glimmering in the distance.
As a coastal state, New Hampshire is known for boiled dinner, che casserole, lobster pound, American Chop Suey, poutine, farmhouse pâté, clam chowder, oysters, steak bombs, and fluffernutters. What was that last thing? A fluffernutter is two pieces of bread, covered in peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Other popular desserts include maple sundaes and cider donuts. Wash it all down with mead, an apple cider cocktail, or apple wine and you’ll be living like a true New Hampshirite!