How far do you drive to work?

[pittnurse24]

Hey there! I've been applying to a ton of applications all within a 25 minute drive of my house and it's just so competitive in the area and I'm not getting anywhere. I've been applying for over two months now. Last month I broadened my search to about an hour away from my house and went to their new grad open house. I felt really at home and got such a better vibe from this hospital than the ones that are local for me. I just got a call from the nurse manager from one of the units I spoke with at the open house, and she seemed really enthusiastic about bringing me in for an interview. I know driving an hour to work is not uncommon, but I'm just wondering if any of you nurses also drive a long distance for work. Wondering about your experience after a long day shift or after night shift how the drive is. Thanks in advance!

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I live about 15-25 minutes from my hospital depending on traffic. On a light traffic day I can get to work in 15 minutes.

I have worked with people who have commuted over an hour to work.

[sourapril]

A lot of accidents happen when you are like 1-2 miles away from your home. So I would suggest you to move closer to your work place if you can or keep looking for closer options. Your health is just as important as your patients'.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

It takes me 7 minutes to get to work 10 if there's traffic.

[ChicagoRN84]

An hour and a half.... Oh, and in a different state 😔. The drive isn't terrible, I'm used to driving. The drive home can be a bit tiring especially when I do back to back to back days. The morning drive goes fairly quick since I have to leave so early

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

If I drove it would take 5 minutes but I live and work downtown so I walk in 25 minutes, door to door.

I have commuted an hour previously and I hated it. Some people don't mind that commute.

[SmilingBluEyes]

35 minutes. You may just have to continue to cast a wider net and be more willing to drive further if you need to, to secure a job. A lot of people commute a lot further than 25 minutes.

[QTBabyNurse, BSN, RN]

I've worked at a few different hospitals. An hour each way was the longest commute I've had and it was a bit much for me, although I did it for a couple of years. It was all interstate driving and it was a factor in my leaving those jobs.

The job I stayed at the longest was a 40 minute drive each way through the country. The morning commute into work was hard cause I'm not a morning person and I was dead tired. The evening commute was nice cause it gave me a chance to unwind before I got home.

All of my positions have been for 7a-7p. If I worked night shift, I may have had a different opinion.

BTW...I have two hospitals that are within a few miles from my home but I would rather commute than work at a crappy facility.

Also I find back roads easier to commute on than an interstate.

[WE~DO~CARE]

Me and my family members have had experience driving for 1 hour to work. We don't like doing it for the following reasons:

1) Extra money spent on gas

2) You are using your vehicle more often which in turn:

a) puts more miles on your odometer thus decreasing your car's value

b) more money will have to be spent on maintaining and servicing your vehicle

3) More chance for accident to occur, especially if commuting back after a long and tiring shift.

4) Driving in the snow and adverse weather conditions

Driving for 1 hour may not sound so bad UNLESS it's winter and the roads are icy. For us slippery roads in the winter is the biggest obstacle. My brother works at the place where the administration will fire you for calling off when it's a snow storm or when the roads are slippery, even if you have a legitimate health reason for calling off that day. They consider such workers as unreliable, and they will not care that you have to drive for about 2 or 3 hours on the horrible dangerously slippery roads to get to work. Of course, it depends where you live you may not have snow, but here in the Northeastern states we definitely do have real winters.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

My commutes have been 5 minutes, 1 hour 15 minutes, 10 minutes, and I just snagged a PRN at 1 hour even. I tend to live close to my full time jobs but pick PRNs way out there.

It really depends on what type of road you are driving on whether a long commute is bad, IMO. The 1 hour 15 minute one I had was in a rural area and the entire commute was on country roads - the roll down your windows, cruise, and sing your favorite songs very loudly kind of roads. I actually found the commute very beneficial to my mental health and well being as I was totally relaxed and ready for bed by the time I got home, whereas it took me an hour or so to wind down after work after I got home from a five minute commute because I was still tense from my night.

However, the new PRN job is an hour away on traffic-snarled major interstates... I have a feeling I'm going to like that commute a heck of a lot less! I don't see a lot of relaxing happening on this job, but time will tell.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Many years ago I commuted 120 miles one way (240 miles round trip) to a non-nursing factory job when I lived in California. The drive took approximately 90 minutes without traffic. Hence, my user name is 'TheCommuter.'

I now drive 15 miles one way to my workplace. I live at the southernmost edge of a major city and my place of employment is located near downtown.

[RNdynamic]

30 minutes.

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

I currently drive 11 miles of mostly back roads, which works out to take me about 20-30 minutes depending on time of day. Took 20 minutes to get home this am, Saturday and Sunday it's generally pretty quick to get home. I work 7pm-7am.