Commute 1 1/2 to work

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hello everyone,

I currently work at Walter reed national military medical center on a med/Surg floor as a float nurse. I've been there for about 8 months. I recently saw a job posting for a nurse at University of Maryland Medical Center on there post acute floor. From the job description it reads like a med/Surg floor as well. UMMC is an hour and a half from my house. WRNMMC is 40 min but with traffic turns into almost 1 1/2hr. I want to apply for the position at UMMC because of the reputation of the hospital and I won't have to float any more. The shifts are 3 12s which is what I work now at WRNMMC. What would you do? Would you commute or stay put? P.S. I'm a LPN and this is a great opportunity for a LPN to work in the hospital and not a nursing home or doctors office.

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I would go for it! It's 3 12's and it'll be at a well known hospital. Do you have reliable transportation and if you have small children do you have someone close that could be there quicker than you in the event of an emergency? If yes then go for it.

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Yes I have small children but my husband works from home and he's very understanding and does what he can to help advance my career. I just found out I can catch the subway to work if I don't want to drive. Thanks for the advice!!!!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Personally, I wouldn't. From when you get out of your car in the parking lot to when you get back in it, it's at least 13 hours. Add 3 hours of travel time and now you have 8 hours at home from when you go in the door to when you leave. You might plan on falling asleep as soon as you walk through the door, but to get to sleep in an hour is actually pretty quick, figure another hour to get ready before work and you're looking at 6 hours of sleep at best. Work 12.5 hours, sleep 6, and drive 3 and there's a disturbingly good chance you'll die on the to or from work.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I would commute that far for a good job, but I live in the San Francisco area, and that's kind of the norm here. I say apply and see what happens. Applying doesn't mean you'll be offered the job, and being offered the job doesn't mean you have to take it. At least if you interviewed, you'd be able to ask more about the unit and find out about the position. It may or may not be something to get excited about.

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If the job is better, the position is better, it offers more opportunity for advancement (education and/or career)....seems like an easy answer to me. But I don't mind driving, I listen to audiobooks on my longer drives :)

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Thanks everyone. I decided to apply. I'll see what happens!!

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Specializes in adult psych, LTC/SNF, child psych.

Just my $0.02, but "post acute" sounds like "sub acute" which sounds like "rehab" to me.

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