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Discussion

Commuting to work in the NICU

I have made some stupid decisions in my short career as a nurse. I graduated in 2007. I initially started out in Labor and Delivery. I told the nurse manager upon starting that I really wanted to work in the nursery, but they were short and needed me in labor delivery more. I really like L/D, but my favorite days at work were those days that I got to spend working in the nursery. I truly for the 1st time in my life I could say that I loved my job. I went to nursing school to be in OB.

The problem is that for many reasons I quit OB. It was the hardest decision I had ever made. I cried because I knew it was wrong. Mainly the reason I quit was do to big problems at home, but now that problem is no longer in my life. He hated me working nights, and hated me working weekends.

I have been away from L/D for over a year. My life is my own, and I realize more now then ever what I should be doing with my career. I want to be in the NICU. I am at a dead end nurses job now not even in a hospital.

Here is my dilemma. The only NICU that is hiring is almost 1 to 1 1/2 hours away. I really can't move right now. I have applied and I am seriously thinking about taking this position if it is offered. Am I nuts for commuting 2-3 hours a day for my dream job?

OK fellow nurses I need your honest opinion. I guess I should include the fact that I am a single mom with 3 kids 18, 14, and 12 and it is night shift of course.

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    • Experts

    Wow.

    I commuted 1-1.5 hours each way on night shift, and fell asleep at stoplights more times than I care to remember. I didn't have 3 kids to take care of, though.

    I know NICU is your dream, but is it a dream that can be deferred for a bit, until you find yourself able to move closer to a NICU job? The fuel costs alone will kill you, unless you have access to mass transit, which sometimes takes longer than driving.

    It just sounds a little crazy to drive that far, spend all that time and money, just for a NICU job. My advice is to wait a little longer, until you can get a job closer to home.

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    I would commute as far as I needed for a NICU job. This is the area I have wanted to work in for as long as I can remember and there are very few positions open in NICU and when they do come available, they seem to get filled very quickly. I currently drive 1.5-2 hours away doing post-NICU pediatric home care. It's not what I want to be doing, but pretty close. I can't find a job any closer to home within my area of interest at the moment and interviews are few and far between (even though I probably apply to over 50 positions a month, if not more!!). After dealing with a bunch of crappy jobs (nursing home, assisted living, Med/Surg, Oncology, Ortho, etc), I have always known what I wanted to do, and these areas weren't it. The only reason why I worked in these jobs was to support my family and pay my bills, I did what I had to do but wasn't happy doing it. Don't sell yourself short if you know what you want and what makes you happy. RN jobs are hard to come by right now. If what you really want comes along and you get the opportunity and the offer, I wouldn't turn it down, I'd try to make it work! Good luck to you! :D

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    • Author

    rnpic thanks so much for the advice. Yes I am working one of those crappy jobs now. It is really a good place to work, but not what I want to be doing. I feel like I am a glorified (and not very glorified) secretary.

    I have thought about it for awhile now and if I do get a offer I am going to jump on the opporunity. I pray I can make it work out.

    Thanks

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    • Author

    I didn't become an RN until 40, so the question is how much longer can I wait. There is a NICU a 1/2 hour away, but I haven't seen openings in the NICU for 4 years. I have been looking and even wrote a letter to the HR representative how interested I was in a NICU position. I feel like I have been putting off my life since I married almost 19 years ago. I have always told my children that if you do what you love you never have to work a day in your life. Not really setting a good example right now.

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    I completely understand. Nurses that get into NICU never leave until they retire. It is a field like no other. I believe this to be the reason why there are very few positions open if any at all. I have been trying to get into NICU for over 3 years. I started applying my Senior year of nursing school, and yet I was one of the few new grads that didn't have a job by graduation (and I was one of the few new grads that was considered a non-traditional student because I too was married and had a 3 year old at the time I started nursing school). I was hoping that by the time I was 30, I would have a MSN degree and be a NNP. My life/dreams have been on hold for a very long time because I can't get a job in NICU. Most NICU's where I live are only hiring EXPERIENCED RN's in NICU (as in 3-5 years NICU experience!). So, I have had no luck. I hope you do find what you are looking for and begin your life!

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    • Experts

    Conduct an experiment. Do the experiment overnight if the NICU job would require night shifts.

    Get in your car and drive around for 1.5 hours. Then stay up and be very busy and active for the length of a typical shift on the NICU job (12 hours? ... 12 hours plus a meal break?). Then see how you feel driving "home" for another 1.5 hours. Do that 2 days in a row (mimicing the type of schedule you would need to keep if you were to take the NICU job). Imagine that being your regulay lifestyle.

    Would you be safe to drive home? How would you feel doing that 3 or 4 days per week? Is that the lifestyle you want? etc.

    You might need to take a vacation day or two from your current job to conduct this experiment ... but it would be worth it as it would give you valuable information the help you make the decision. It would tell you what it would be like to keep that schedule. Don't forget to include the expenses and family challenges of the commuting (gas, wear and tear on your car, kids alone for longer periods, not being close to home should the kids have a problem, etc.).

    For some people, such a long commute is tolerable ... but for most people, it is not a lifestyle that works well.

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    For now, the commute is tolerable. I don't really have a choice. It's either drive 1.5 hours one way to work and back, or not work at all and collect unemployment. Can't pay my bills with unemployment!! It's not the lifestyle I want, but I have to do it. If I had to commute for a job in NICU, I would do it in a heartbeat. To me it would mean getting the experience needed in order to get a job closer to home later in the field I love. Some of us don't have a choice when it comes to commuting for work, especially now at a time when there aren't many jobs available.

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