45 minutes to 1 hour commute. Three 12 hour shifts per week for a total of 34.5 paid hours. Every other weekend and alternating major holidays. Very high acuity.
Job 2 $38/hour
10-15 minute commute. Three 12 hour shifts per week plus Every other weekend with shorter hours (total of 40 paid working hours) and no major holidays. Less high acuity.
I have 2 young children who would need an additional day of childcare with job #2.
Am I the only person in the world who didn't mind driving the hour or so to commute each way???
I think an hour commute can be a different experience in different areas. If it's an hour of simple straight-shot driving where I can listen to music or an audiobook, that's one thing.
If it's an hour of dealing with horrible stop-and-go traffic where people are cutting you off, you're surrounded by huge trucks, and someone else's minor fender-bender can double your commute on a given day, then that's not a commute where you can learn Spanish on tape because your focus shifts to not getting killed by other impatient drivers.
Arguably, there are situations in which it's better to take jobs with longer commutes because the benefits of the job outweigh the crap commute, but if I had a good job 15 minutes from my home, I'd take that any day.
I have personally gone from a 10 minute commute, to an hour long commute (for a former non-nursing job, I'm just a nursing student at this point). Let me tell you...it sucked! It adds two hours to your workday, and fighting traffic makes you mentally exhausted. I wasn't happy when I got home, I wasn't happy waking up in the morning knowing I had to drive for an hour.
I'd take the second job in a heartbeat. Plus, you get guaranteed holidays at home with the kids? Make those memories!
headofcurls, BSN, RN
136 Posts
Job two!