This month’s State Spotlight takes us to wonderful Wisconsin! The Badger State is chock full of brilliant career opportunities for Travel Nurses as well as 14,000-plus lakes, rolling hills, exciting cities, unique history, and appreciation for music, food, and beer. Read on to find out why assignments in America’s Dairyland are the big cheese of Travel Nursing gigs!
Travel Nursing in Wisconsin
Wisconsin has a high demand for Travelers and that means there are lots of great Travel Nursing jobs for you to choose from. Besides these great job opportunities at Traveler-friendly hospitals that allow you the chance to develop your resume and build your skills, The Badger State offers all a plethora of fun things to do, see, and experience on your days off. Wisconsin has beautiful lakes, delicious dairy, rolling hills, a true love of music, and so many more adventures that await you!
Wisconsin is home to more than 150 hospitals — nine of which meet high enough standards to be ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Hospitals list. That includes their #1-ranked Wisconsin hospital, Madison’s University of Wisconsin hospitals, which is nationally ranked in nine specialties and six pediatric specialties, in addition to being ranked “High Performing” in two more adult specialties and eight procedures/conditions. Rounding out the top five overall best hospitals in Wisconsin are: Milwaukee’s Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee’s Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Wausau’s Aspirus Wausau Hospital, and Madison’s SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital-Madison.
U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 “Best States” list ranked Wisconsin #11 overall, as well as #3 for quality of life, #8 for opportunity, and #17 for healthcare.
As for licensing, Wisconsin is not a walk-through state but it is a compact state and a NURSYS state. Click here for more info on licensing in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Fast Facts
State Nickname: The Badger State
Capital: Madison
Largest City: Milwaukee
National Parks: 2
State Parks: 66
National Historic and Natural Landmarks: 61
State Motto: “FORWARD”
State Flower: Wood Violet
State Tree: Sugar Maple
State Animal: Badger
State Dance: Polka
Wisconsin was the 30th state.
Blenders, Social Security, round silos, bone marrow transplants, turbo taps, kindergarten, American Girl Dolls, malted milk, ice cream sundaes, snowmobiles, the typewriter keyboard, the solid-body guitar, and, believe it or not, the modern surfboard(!?) were all invented in Wisconsin.
Native American tribes that originally inhabited Wisconsin include the Winnebago, Menominee, and Dakota.
Wisconsin has more than 14,000 lakes and nearly 7,500 rivers and streams.
With more cows than any other state, Wisconsin is dubbed “America’s Dairyland.
The famous cheesehead hat actually debuted at a Brewers game before being adopted by Packers fans.
Wisconsin repealed its Prohibition laws in 1929, four years before federal repeal!
Averaging 2,500 performers, Milwaukee’s Summerfest is the largest music festival in the United States.
In 1884, the first-ever Ringling Brothers Circus happened in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
You would think it’d be abroad, but Monroe, Wisconsin is considered the Swiss Cheese Capital of the World.
Barbie hails from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.
Harley Davidson Motorcycles calls Wisconsin home.
The nation’s first kindergarten classes were held in Wisconsin in 1856 at a German couple’s house.
The Washington House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin lays claim to having served the first ice cream sundae in 1881.
The largest wooly mammoth ever found was excavated in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Green Bay is the oldest city in Wisconsin.
Sheboygan, Wisconsin is known as the “Bratwurst Capital of the World” despite the fact that Madison throw the “World’s Largest Brat Fest” every Memorial Day weekend.
Wisconsin native Les Paul was dubbed the Wizard of Waukesha for his many innovations to the makeup of guitars, playing, and recording.
Timm’s Hill at 1,951 feet is the highest natural point in Wisconsin.
Famous folks from Wisconsin include Les Paul, Frank Lloyd Wright, Willem Dafoe, Bob Uecker, Orson Welles, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Farley, Gene Wilder, Charlotte Rae, Spencer Tracy, Gena Rowlands, Liberace, Georgia O’Keeffe, Tony Romo, Colin Kaepernick, Heather Graham, and Dustin Diamond.
In addition to being a hotspot for dairy, Wisconsin leads the nation in exports of ginseng root.
Wisconsin offers a Master Cheesemaker program that requires 10 years of cheesemaking experience to apply and takes three years to complete.
The first hydroelectric plant in the nation was built in 1882 at Fox River.
To Do & See in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is known as America’s Dairyland, but The Badger State has tons more to offer than merely delicious dairy. (Not that creating heavenly cheese is a small contribution by any means!) There’s plenty to do and see here — from exciting urban areas to quaint towns and rolling hills. Wisconsin is a truly wonderful spot for your next adventure in Travel Nursing!
On the urban tip, Wisconsin’s largest cities include Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, and Appleton. Each of these cities offers a great glimpse into what makes Wisconsin a great place to live, work, and play — with various bits of cool culture, scintillating sports, divine drinks and eats, and so much more.
Schlemeil, Schlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated! Milwaukee is more than just the hometown of Laverne and Shirley. Wisconsin’s capital city is a great place to hang and kick back with a brewski. You can kayak the Milwaukee River, rev it up at the Harley Davidson Museum, bike the Oak Leaf Trail, check out some art at Sculpture Milwaukee, kick back at Bradford Beach, explore historic Brady Street, and so much more!
But you needn’t depend solely on the big city for fun in The Badger State. Because of Wisconsin’s proud agricultural history, the state is home to oodles of quirky towns, delightfully strange roadside attractions, and gorgeous scenery. Some of Wisconsin’s most charming small towns to day trip to include Chippewa Falls, Princeton, New Glarus, Minocqua, Mount Horeb, and Spring Green. These towns offer great history, heritage, activities, and, of course, great food.
Speaking of food, Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland. So, if you do dairy, you’re in for a real treat! The Badger State’s lush grasslands, glacial water supply, sheer amount of bovines, and legacy of cheesemakers create the perfect storm for some of the world’s best cheese.
In addition cheese in its many glorious forms — curds, beer cheese soup, cheese plates, and so much more— Wisconsin is famous for many other eats, like butter burgers, frozen custard, Danish kringle, bratwurst, Cornish pasty, cream puffs, roesti, fish fries, wild rice, hot ham and rolls, and Chicken Booyah. Wash it all down with a brewski from one of the state’s incredible craft breweries and you’ll be living like a true Wisconsinite!
Sports fans will love assignments in Wisconsin for the chance to root for the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Admirals, and so many other great pro, semi-pro and college teams. Madison is the quintessential college town and football fans will be right at home cheering for the home team there!
If you’re into embracing the great outdoors, Wisconsin is a great place for lake lovers, with its 14,000-plus lakes and abundance of rivers! Some of the state’s most beloved lakes include Lake Winnebago, Lake Pepin, Petenwell Lake, Lake Mendota, Lake Michigan, Minocqua Lake, Castle Rock Lake, Lake Superior, Allequash Lake, Lake Wingra, Lake Chippewa, and many, many more.