Is it worth travelling 4 hrs to work?

Nurses General Nursing

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My friend just got a job in NICU and she always wanted to be NICU nurse, pay is good but her job is 4 hrs away in rural area. She has been a registry LVN before becoming RN and my advice was if she can try registry for a while close to her home if she cannot find job of her choice. She has a 7 yrs old girl who'll be with grandma for 4 days a week. This is not travel job but she would be travelling 4 hrs, staying in hotel for 6 days work and drive back home.

I am wondering how many of us would be willing to travel 4 hrs for job they want and leave kids with grandparents. .

Be a parent.

There are some people on AN who will tell you to follow your dreams right off of a cliff into a pit of snakes.

I've honestly never seen/heard the "Dream theme" as often in my entire life as I've read it here on AN I'm all for going after what you want, but not at the expense of everyone around you. Not into financial ruin. Not into a career you're not cut out for. Proceed with clarity, reason, and purpose, not desperation and impulsivity.

That is a lot of assumption about her financial affairs. The OP posted that money is not an issue for this person. So no risk of financial ruin. And there is only one way to find out if you are cut out for a career or not. You have to take some chances in life or you will miss out on a lot.

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Working 12 hour shifts pretty much rules out spending a lot of time on those days with your kids. I mean if you work day shift, you leave early in the am and come home when they are in bed, right? I think I would give this a shot. But I would want back to back shifts and this would not be a long term plan because the burn out will kick in twice as fast and your kids are only small once. There needs to be a plan for success, which is either moving closer or the like. I graduated from school in an area where new grads are not weclomed. I moved for my first job. It was hard, lonely, and very trying at times but it was a means to an end. I got what I needed out of it. It helped me land my second job which was an hour and a half commute. I did that 3 times a week for a year. And then I finally got the job I wanted and here I shall stay.......... meanwhile most of my graduating nursing class failed to land a job and went back to their previous careers. So what might be the right choice for this person, may not be the right one for you.

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Specializes in med/surg/ortho/tele.

please no way, am forcing my opinion on my friend, Infact she asked me for my opinion and knows this forum has nurses as members who might have come across such choices sometime in life. My friend is more than a sister to me and we are very close.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
Upon reading your original post, my first thought was: It's not your business. After reading the above, it's STILL not your business.

Are you seriously soliciting strangers on the internet to help you "win" a disagreement with your friend? If you are showing her all these posts to "prove" that you're right, I think you need to reexamine what it means to be a friend to someone.

I hardly think this was helpful, or necessary. The OP was simply asking for opinions in an anonymous situation. Both she and her friend are fairly new to nursing, and probably don't know whether traveling this far for a job is something that a lot of people have to do. Maybe her friend even wanted the opinion of other nurses.

Simply posting a thread on the internet does not make her a bad friend. In fact, I'd rather have a friend that is looking out for my best interests rather than just saying "Do whatever makes you happy!" when they actually think I'm making a big mistake.

It's really easy to sit and judge the decisions others make, but without knowing ALL that they deal with, you are in no position to do so.

Then I would strongly encourage you to take your own advice and not to judge the actions of the OP without knowing her motivations either.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

That is a lot of assumption about her financial affairs. The OP posted that money is not an issue for this person. So no risk of financial ruin. And there is only one way to find out if you are cut out for a career or not. You have to take some chances in life or you will miss out on a lot.

How is that a lot of assumption about her financial affairs? Not only was it one sentence, but it wasn't even directed toward OP.

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Specializes in NICU.
please no way, am forcing my opinion on my friend, Infact she asked me for my opinion and knows this forum has nurses as members who might have come across such choices sometime in life. My friend is more than a sister to me and we are very close.

I'm glad to hear this. Your earlier postings did not convey your caring, but sounded more like it was a contest. I hope your friend can work out what is best for her.

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

Jobs can be very hard to come by. I have friends that work nights on my unit, and they live 3.5 hours away from the hospital. They rent rooms with other nurses/ and some docs/ and stay there for the six days, then have off for almost two weeks. One friend of mine has been doing it for years.

However. Women are different. I don't know if I'd be able to do this, except in the more DIRE of circumstance. Say for example if I was the only provider for entire household, you bet I would buckle down and do what had to be done.

It is very easy to stand back and say 'I would never', but life sometimes has a way of making us rethink these things.

Good luck to the OP.

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

needless to say, jobs are hard to find this days. consequently, i'm not only concern regarding the 4hrs. with a total of 8hrs r/t of commute but the amount of tare and wear on the vehicle not to mentioned the expense of daily maintenance like oil change, tire rotation, and one can't forget the mileage when one decides to resale this vehicle. however, no one can say what would they do in this situation until they are presented with this ordeal. wishing the op and those of you that share the same predicament the best in all of your future endeavors...aloha~

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

I commuted an hour and 45 minutes for 18 months. I am single with my own home. I did the stay for 6 day thing with my parents who treated me like a queen. My schedule was rarely 6 straight back to back but more often every other. I worked night shift. I would come home to a mountain of mail, yardwork and other chores related to abandoning a house (did you know they still get really dusty.) I was changing the oil in my car about every 5 weeks, gas was eating a hole in my paycheck and I was a physical/emotional wreck. I'd sit at the computer and cry when trying to pay the bills. I had the money I just couldn't figure out how to log into my account because I was so tired. All this and I didn't have the guilt of leaving a small child, missing important things in her life and having to care for her when I arrived home exhausted. I couldn't take it even though it was a job I loved and the flightsuit was pretty cool.

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