5 months in the ED but want a closer job.

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Specializes in ED.

I live in Miami but i work in Ft. Lauderdale and take a 24 mile drive :(. I see that hospitals near me have slots for their ED and want to apply there. Thing is im only 5 months in the ED so far. My commute is pretty stressful even though i do it 3 days a week. I just cant tolerate the distance anymore and its taking a toll on me and my car. I have no contract whatsoever with the hospital and i see that their sister hospital in Miami has slots open. Since im only 5 months here in this ED, is it too soon to ask to transfer to the other hospital or do i have to wait at least 6 months? 6 months is the policy for my facility to transfer to another unit. Ive been told that wait till 6 months is up so it will look good on the resume.

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24 miles? Honestly, that doesn't seem too far. I don't live in Florida and perhaps that 24 miles turns into an hour commute, but it doesn't SOUND that far. I use to work 22 miles from my house and commuted INTO Baltimore...it still wasn't that bad. Good music on the radio or find an interesting audio book and the trip flew by.

Good luck, though. Worst they can say is "no" if you ask.

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Specializes in Tele.

I would apply for the sister hospital anyway.

I have quite a few co-workers here in miami who travel also about 26 miles from home== and I asked them several times that if they ever thought about working closer to their home and they state that "they love this hospital"

good for them, but I certainly would not do it. I like working close to home.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I drive 49 miles each way to my ED, and have for 5+ years ... I certainly understand the stress of a commute! Although my current drive is much, MUCH better than my five-days-per-week, 89-miles-each-way commute into the DC area that I did as a graphic designer. I just about lost my mind.

I don't think anyone would begrudge you a shorter commute! Can't hurt to look into it, and by the time you left, you'd probably be at 6 months anyway, right?

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Specializes in ED.
24 miles? Honestly, that doesn't seem too far. I don't live in Florida and perhaps that 24 miles turns into an hour commute, but it doesn't SOUND that far. I use to work 22 miles from my house and commuted INTO Baltimore...it still wasn't that bad. Good music on the radio or find an interesting audio book and the trip flew by.

Good luck, though. Worst they can say is "no" if you ask.

Its not bad compared to others, but every time i commute i always find myself taking at least 5 minute naps on the side of the road. Been almost into an accident 3 times. :eek:

I would apply for the sister hospital anyway.

I have quite a few co-workers here in miami who travel also about 26 miles from home== and I asked them several times that if they ever thought about working closer to their home and they state that "they love this hospital"

good for them, but I certainly would not do it. I like working close to home.

What hospital is that? I prefer working closer too. the stressful drive for me has been affecting me.

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Until very recently, I drove 44 miles to work every day and work 5-7 days per week, so 24 miles is hardly what I, or many others, would call a commute.

Even six months on the job doesn't look great, in my opinion. I think most people would tell you that you should stay in one location for at least one year for the sake of your resume. If you were just transferring from one department to another within the same facility, that would be different since you would still be with the same employer.

Having said all that, if you can get the Miami hospital to hire you with only 5 months of experience then go for it. Just be prepared to stick it out there if you don't happen to like the facility for some reason, because you would likely have a much tougher time getting another job after having left two of them in a short period of time.

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Specializes in ED.
I drive 49 miles each way to my ED, and have for 5+ years ... I certainly understand the stress of a commute! Although my current drive is much, MUCH better than my five-days-per-week, 89-miles-each-way commute into the DC area that I did as a graphic designer. I just about lost my mind.

I don't think anyone would begrudge you a shorter commute! Can't hurt to look into it, and by the time you left, you'd probably be at 6 months anyway, right?

Yup! it would be 6 months by then. Im just used to short commutes. I tend to doze off after 15 minutes driving.

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Specializes in ED.
Until very recently, I drove 44 miles to work every day and work 5-7 days per week, so 24 miles is hardly what I, or many others, would call a commute.

Even six months on the job doesn't look great, in my opinion. I think most people would tell you that you should stay in one location for at least one year for the sake of your resume. If you were just transferring from one department to another within the same facility, that would be different since you would still be with the same employer.

Having said all that, if you can get the Miami hospital to hire you with only 5 months of experience then go for it. Just be prepared to stick it out there if you don't happen to like the facility for some reason, because you would likely have a much tougher time getting another job after having left two of them in a short period of time.

Would the same apply if the facilities are both related? Where im working right now is a satellite campus hospital. The main campus is in Miami. Theyre pretty much 1 hospital combined just 2 different campuses. The ER MDs at my facility take up a couple of shifts down at the main campus ED too. I dont really know what to do, but i guess ill ask like letting them know in advance that i want to transfer or would get some bad rep for that?

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Would the same apply if the facilities are both related? Where im working right now is a satellite campus hospital. The main campus is in Miami. The ER MDs at my facility take up a couple of shifts down at the main campus ED too. I dont really know what to do, but i guess ill ask like letting them know in advance that i want to transfer or would get some bad rep for that?

It might, but you need to check with HR to know for sure. I wouldn't necessarily go by what the MDs do. At my hospital, the MDs have their own group and are contracted to work for my hospital and many others, but they are not directly employees of the hospital.

Like I said before, though, if you can get the other hospital to give you a shot then go for it. I would probably do the same thing if there was a hospital that close to me. Just have the mindset to be there for at least a year, maybe more, since you would be leaving your first job after only six months.

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I drive 190 miles to work. I stay there for a couple of days, and drive back home. I live in the bay area and make a lot of sacrifices to get my experience. Its been more than a 1yr and I still do this. Will look to return closer to home as I await for positions to open in the hospitals of my choice. Call me crazy but I have "acute care experience" in the ER while 85% of my classmates are still seeking that hospital job.

I will kill to drive 24miles to work.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

Stick it out and stay at least one year especially if you work with a great group of people and have a good manager. Jobs for nurses with little experience are very hard to find.

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Stick it out and stay at least one year especially if you work with a great group of people and have a good manager. Jobs for nurses with little experience are very hard to find.

I kind of agree with this. The people you work with can make or break a position for many people. If you work with some good people, and the only reason you have for leaving your current job is the length of the drive, then you should consider very carefully if you will be that fortunate in your new job. This is part of what I was alluding to before when I said that you may not like it at the new hospital, and you need to be determined to stick it out for a bare minimum of one year at the new place, even if you discover that the environment is not so great. The only exception that I might make for this would be if the working conditions at the new hospital are very unsafe; even so, you would still probably have a tough time getting that third job if you left for any reason prior to one or two years. Try to talk to some of the nurses who work at the new place first to see if you can get a feel for the work environment before making a final decision.

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