Level 3 vs level 1 Trauma Center

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been offered a position at a level 3 trauma center 30 minutes away. I've also been offered a position at a level 1 Trauma Center 1 hour away, which is a weekend shift. Which would you choose? If the level 1 Trauma center 1 hour away every weekend, is it worth it to just get a hotel every weekend?

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When you say somewhere is an hour away, does this include the actual traffic you will be driving in? Do you work somewhere where snow is slow to be cleared off the roads, but you still need to come to work? Is this a night shift were you might be driving home sleepy for over an hour?

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Yes, there is snow, but it's a main highway that gets cleaned off right away. It is a nightshift, so that is why I was thinking a hotel.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatrics, Wound Care.

If you do nightshift, you would need 2 nights stay since check-out of hotels would be sleep time (checkout between 10-1pm or whatnot).

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Nothing is worth paying for a hotel every weekend. Work at the trauma 3 facility.  You will see many trauma one cases. Good luck.

 

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Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.

Personally, I would never commute more than 40 minutes for a job. I once had a commute that was theoretically 20 minutes, but with traffic would routinely turn into an hour commute that quickly became unsustainable. 

My current commute is 20 minutes in good traffic and 30 minutes with heavy traffic; much better for both myself and my car. 

As the previous poster mentioned nothing is worth paying for a hotel every weekend. 

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

I'm assuming these are emergency room positions you're evaluating? The difference in acuity might be large in terms of single incidents, but overall you're going to see little difference between the patient populations in both facilities. Even major traumas end up in Level 3 facilities sometimes and require stabilization before transfer to the Level 1. 

The commute and hotel situation are also big factors with your decision. Good luck!

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On 4/21/2022 at 11:49 AM, Alexxoxox said:

Which would you choose? If the level 1 Trauma center 1 hour away every weekend, is it worth it to just get a hotel every weekend?

My mind was made up when you said every weekend.  Every weekend? Really? That's a lot.

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