Moving to quantico. What hospitals are commute-able?

[Shijo, BSN, RN]

Hello. My husband and I will be moving to quantico summer 2013 for his job. I currently work in a neuro icu in a 800+ bed hospital. I would like to remain in critical care and work at a larger hospital but I remember how bad the traffic can be in NOVA so I'm not sure how realistic that is. From my google search the only Neuro icu in the area is fairfax and I'm not sure if that's doable. I love working Neuro but I'm open to other units (especially one that's trauma since there's a lot of Neuro still!) So what hospitals have a realistic commute? And of those hospitals what type of units do they have and how big?

[0402]

The most "commutable"- if you were living on base- would be Stafford Hospital (the closest but not very big, from my understanding), Mary Washington (Level II trauma center; south of base) and Potomac Hospital (in Woodbridge; north of the hospital). I live up in NoVA, so I don't know a ton about those hospitals (I wasn't an RN when we were stationed there), but the names should give you a starting point for research.

Are you set on living on base? It wouldn't be a hard commute for your husband if you lived north of the base (reverse commute), so you could live somewhere between Quantico and Falls Church (where Inova Fairfax is- the large hospital with Neuro ICU) and both have a decent commute.

[Shijo, BSN, RN]

I think my husband is pretty set on living near base. I also want us to live close to where he works since we have small children and his schedule is more 9-5ish. I'm just not to sure what to do. If I were to live in dumfries and commute to inova fairfax how long would the commute average? Google maps has it at 35 minutes but what would it actually be working a 7a-7p or 7p-7a? I feel so spoiled living in a big city with tons of hospitals super close by. Looks like with this move I will be basing where I work more on how long the commute is and hoping that the place I want has an opening and hires me!

[UVA Grad Nursing]

DC-area traffic is among the worst in the nation. Google maps is good for estimating length of time when there is no traffic, but that is a rare occurance in the DC/Northern Va area (except perhaps on Sunday afternoons). You might have better luck looking against the traffic (so aiming south of Quantico if you were working a morning shift, or north if you would be working evenings/nights).

My parents used to live in Fredricksburg (south of Quantico), and it would usually take me 3+ hours each way to drive to my job in DC. That 50-mile drive (or crawl) was numbing.

[Halcyonn]

There is Stafford Hospital which is approximately 10-15 minutes south of Quantico. It's a smaller 100(ish) bed hospital run by Mary Washington Healthcare. The main Mary Washington Hospital is in Fredericksburg, which is about 20-25 minutes south of Quantico. There is also a new hospital, Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, which was recently built in Massaponax. It's approximately 30-35 minutes south of Quantico.

Here's a few links that might help!

Mary Washington Healthcare

Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center

Good luck job hunting! :)

[krenee]

To work night shift at Fairfax you'd have to leave about an hour ahead of time. Day shift would be at least an hour & a half. I think the absolute closest to you would be Potomac (which is now Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center) but that's a small community hospital, basically.

[delarmer]

I currently work PRN at Stafford Hospital. Went from FT to PRN in Oct. 2012. Wonderful Hospital!! Smaller, and risk the chance to get flexed. I currently work FT at Quantico Naval Medical Clinic. You can also check on usajobs.com for any positions here on the base. Good Luck!!