How far do you drive to work?

breezy7, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2015

After working 13 hours, how far you are from home should be a big consideration for you. At least, it is for me. It's incredibly difficult to be alert, and if you're hitting traffic (ie after working night shift) that could also make your commute longer... just something to think about. I'd be interested to hear what some other more seasoned nurses think about this, since I'm just a new grad myself.

Farawyn · Apr 24, 2015

5 minutes. Sorry, I am the school nurse in the high school in my town.

My hospital job that I left in August and worked for 22 years? 11ish miles. Traffic- 20 minutes -2.5 hours in the snow.

When I worked nights I hated the drive home because I would be drowsing.

When I worked days it was fine. Just enough time to unwind and think about all the things you didn't do (call the floor and say, Did I sign off 1800 meds? Because I did them. I put a dot in each MAR. Print my initials!)

The last few years at the hospital I worked in an OBGYN clinic and drove home during rush hour. Not fun.

In other jobs I worked, like PD home care I never drove more than 45 minutes.

Caffeine_IV · Apr 24, 2015

Between 20-35minutes. I have 2 jobs.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 24, 2015

I live 43 miles from my job, which translates to about an hour from door to parking lot to clocking in. Night shifts were very hard to drive home after. Day shift, not a problem. To me it is worth it to work where I work. We are looking to move, but the market is crap where I am.

proud nurse, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2015

I drove 5 minutes for 7 years to a job that I hated. It was convenient to my house, flexible while I was raising my family and going to RN school. Aside from that, staffing was horrible, coworkers were awful. I was an LPN charge for 51 patients, 20 of which were on a non-locked Alzheimer/dementia wing.

Now I drive 22 minutes to a job that I really like, but it's very busy and lacks good leadership. It's definitely worth the ride, and I pass 3 other hospitals on my way there. I work the weekend program, so traffic is not too bad unless there is a major sporting event or festival in town (I have to drive through downtown). In the snow, it has taken me an hour to drive to work.

I work with a lot of nurses that drive over an hour to work. I personally would not apply for a job that was more than an hour away. I just don't like being in my car that long.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 24, 2015

3 miles now. In my previous career, i had the option of working from home, so my commute then was 2 floors and my onsite office was a 10 minute drive.

kddannemiller · Apr 24, 2015

My last job (my first hospital job) I drove 55 minutes to work, now I drive 2 miles, but it takes 15-30 minutes depending on how bad the traffic is

pittnurse24, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2015

I appreciate all your feedback and it's nice to hear that some of you have driven pretty far to work at some point in your career! It's unfortunate that I can't find anything closer to home, but you gotta do what you gotta do to find work!

Seaofclouds, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2015

I've had short drives (5 minutes) and longer drives (almost an hour). I honestly like the longer drive better as it gives me more time to decompress after work. That way, when I get home, I am ready to leave work behind and focus on my family (husband and 3 kids). When I had the shorter drive, I would often come home and need to talk or vent about something because I hadn't had an opportunity to decompress in the short drive. My current drive is about 40 minutes, which is still good for decompressing after work.

Penguin67 · Apr 24, 2015

I know some people (5 or 6) who all went to nursing school together and all got jobs at a hospital that was 45-60 minutes from their homes. They all went in together on a local apartment together. They slept there between shifts if they were working back to back shifts, and napped there sometimes before driving home if needed. They had a 3 BR place, with 6 twin beds, and sharing expenses on that was quite minimal and safe. They did this for a little over a year. After that, some opted to move there permanently and two found jobs closer to home, but it was a good way to start out.

brownbook · Apr 24, 2015

My first job was a whole 20 mile drive. I thought that was soooo far, probably because there were 3 major hospitals a lot closer. But working night shift made the commute easy, plus I was driving home against the commute traffic.

My other two jobs were (are) so close. As others have mentioned the longer commute gave me time to unwind. Sometimes it seems so abrupt to end a horrible, hectic, shift and walk through my front door 5 to 10 minutes later!