Would You do This Commute?

allnurses Guide · Jul 9, 2017

Just wanted to offer my two cents on your post. I have

had numerous positions in which I had to commute around

an hour each way, and I too live in an area which does get

snow and ice. I personally feel like, if it's a good place to

work, the commute is well worth it. :)

I can also see how a work at home job could be stressful.

I've never had a job which was strictly work at home, however

I've done a home health job in which I worked FROM my

home, had to do a lot of paperwork in my home, had a

lot of responsibility, did a lot of case managing.. it was

very stressful. I'd rather do what I'm doing in a heartbeat.

I work in a hospital 3 12's a week... I come to work, do my

job, and go home to relax!

westieluv · Jul 9, 2017

Thanks for all of your helpful replies!

I don't think I would have to take call with this job, it is an inpatient hospice unit within a hospital. However, I don't know that for sure so I would need to ask at the interview.

I'm really on the fence here. I keep thinking "no way" then I turn around and think, "But I want to do this and it's only three days a week". Part of the problem is that my husband is pretty much against it because he looks at the wear and tear on my car. Right now my car sits in the garage a good part o the time and I only buy gas every few weeks at the most. He likes that a lot! He's a wonderful guy but practical to a fault. I do think this job would include a pay increase (it would almost have to, another reason why I'm looking), so it may balance out the extra usage of my car.

Trauma Columnist · Jul 9, 2017

I would do it if it was a job I wanted.

I currently drive 100-200 miles/day but I am reimbursed for it too and its figured into my workday

Wuzzie · Jul 9, 2017

Thanks for all of your helpful replies!
I don't think I would have to take call with this job, it is an inpatient hospice unit within a hospital. However, I don't know that for sure so I would need to ask at the interview.
I'm really on the fence here. I keep thinking "no way" then I turn around and think, "But I want to do this and it's only three days a week". Part of the problem is that my husband is pretty much against it because he looks at the wear and tear on my car. Right now my car sits in the garage a good part o the time and I only buy gas every few weeks at the most. He likes that a lot! He's a wonderful guy but practical to a fault. I do think this job would include a pay increase (it would almost have to, another reason why I'm looking), so it may balance out the extra usage of my car.

I did a long commute. It was for a very highly coveted position. I lasted 18 months before I finally had to cave. Your 12 hour shifts are not going to be 12 hours. In the winter I sometimes had to leave 2 hours prior to my normal departure time to make sure I arrived on time. And then it would take me the same getting back. Or I would have to drive up the night before and get a hotel room. This was on a commute that was entirely on an interstate in a state with moderate snow and ice. That would add up to almost 8 hours of commuting PER SHIFT. The math is ugly. Then I would get stuck staying overtime which just made things worse. Now granted, my getting stuck over often meant by hours and hours due to the nature of my job and my commute was longer than yours but still, even getting out 45 minutes late is demoralizing when you're tired and facing a long drive. Your husband is right about wear and tear on your car. If I pushed it I could limit fill ups to 2 times a week but that was just squeaking by. Normally it was 3. If you get a really small car with excellent gas mileage it might make a difference. I preferred to drive a small SUV with AWD for safety. Oil changes about every two months. Tires wear out faster. You get the picture. But the wear and tear on my body was the deal breaker. I was always soooo tired. Im talking soul-crushing exhausted. I barely functioned when I was actually at home. There's nothing more depressing than spending your day off recovering from the day before and getting ready for the next day because you have to work...again. Clustering your days together has its own set of evil side effects. All I felt like I did was drive-work-drive-sleep-mow the lawn-drive-work-drive-clean the house-sleep rinse and repeat. If you'll notice there isn't one fun thing in that list. But this was MY experience. Yours and other's may be entirely different. All I know is I would never do it again

morte, LPN, LVN · Jul 9, 2017

20 minutes closer would work, any family members that are closer?

SouthpawRN · Jul 9, 2017

Try living in SF bay area or LA, where a 10 mile commute can be an hour. It comes down to what you are personally comfortable with . the benefits of 12 hours is you are probably arriving earlier and leaving later than the bulk of the traffic. I used to commute 95 miles each way in LA for a similar shift, was 24 hrs though. A motorcycle and carpool lanes helped, as well as the fact that CA allows lane splitting.

allnurses Guide · Jul 9, 2017

I am an RN currently work from home but, while I appreciate the convenience of it, it is starting to get lonely and boring, not to mention that it is very stressful and the company that I work for is a bit of a disorganized mess.
I recently received an offer for an interview for a job that I think that I would really love that meets my criteria: three twelve hour shifts a week, day shift, and in my specialty. However, it is about 40 miles from my home and according to Google Maps and Mapquest (I haven't tried driving it yet) it would be an hour's commute each way. Right now, obviously, I have zero commute, so to go from this to driving an hour each way, although only three times a week, concerns me. It's easy in the middle of summer and feeling dissatisfied with my current job to think that it would be no big deal, but I live in an area where we do get some snow and ice in the winter and I wonder if I'm looking at this through rose colored glasses and would end up dreading the commute.
So would you consider doing this commute three times a week? It is roughly 50/50 state highway and interstate highway and I have to pass through one small (30,000 people) city on surface streets about halfway through and the job itself is in a suburb of a large city so that would be surface street driving too. I would do it in a heartbeat if it was all interstate highway, because then it would only be maybe 30-40 minutes, but unfortunately, that's not the case.
Thanks!

Based on what you've said here I would say no because I don't really enjoy driving and I live very close to work - I ride my bike most days. Still it depends on what the job market is like where you are and you would have to think about how you would handle severe weather conditions like if the roads were closed etc....

It's all a game of pros and cons.

Hppy

Everline · Jul 9, 2017

I have commuted more than an hour each way for a job I loved. I did extensive commuting at my last job, several hours per week. On the days it was just an hour each way it seemed easy! When I relocated, however, I was pretty tired of driving and gave myself a 20-25 minute drive time as my top limit for a new job. That is to say, you might get tired of the commute over time. It really depends on a lot of factors such as average traffic patterns and weather. Sometimes hour commutes can turn into much longer ones. So factor in those variables and add the gas, and wear and tear on the car to your figures. In all, I would definitely drive an hour to a job that makes me happy over staying close by in a job where I am miserable. Yes.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2017

I take the ezpass so I cut a guaranteed commute of an hour to a commute of 30 mins.

amzyRN · Jul 9, 2017

I have an hour commute each way to work now and it sucks. I do 12-hour shifts and am so exhausted and having to commute is too draining. I'm now looking for something closer. It seemed good on paper but actually doing it is too exhausting.

Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2017

Yes, I'd do that commute for a 3 day work week. I'd think again if my hours were spread over 5 days, but for 3 days yes! Especially if it fits your other needs too! Good luck!

Creamsoda, ASN, RN · Jul 9, 2017

I am an RN currently work from home but, while I appreciate the convenience of it, it is starting to get lonely and boring, not to mention that it is very stressful and the company that I work for is a bit of a disorganized mess.
I recently received an offer for an interview for a job that I think that I would really love that meets my criteria: three twelve hour shifts a week, day shift, and in my specialty. However, it is about 40 miles from my home and according to Google Maps and Mapquest (I haven't tried driving it yet) it would be an hour's commute each way. Right now, obviously, I have zero commute, so to go from this to driving an hour each way, although only three times a week, concerns me. It's easy in the middle of summer and feeling dissatisfied with my current job to think that it would be no big deal, but I live in an area where we do get some snow and ice in the winter and I wonder if I'm looking at this through rose colored glasses and would end up dreading the commute.
So would you consider doing this commute three times a week? It is roughly 50/50 state highway and interstate highway and I have to pass through one small (30,000 people) city on surface streets about halfway through and the job itself is in a suburb of a large city so that would be surface street driving too. I would do it in a heartbeat if it was all interstate highway, because then it would only be maybe 30-40 minutes, but unfortunately, that's not the case.
Thanks!

I used to live 40 miles from my work. the other local hospital was 15 minutes. I could have worked there but had only heard bad things about the hospital. I still only ever hear bad things and would never work there. So the thought of going to that hospital wasn't even an option. Sure the short commute would have been nice. that being said, you just get used to the commute. I live where we have a lot of winter. You have to get up earlier, drive slower. After a big storm, as long as you work at 7 am/7pm, you usually bean the traffic so don't have to leave too much earlier, but if you work at 8, then i know people that have to leave 2 hrs earlier because theres only 1 road into town.

So the summer it took me 1 hr door to door. The winter 1hr and 15-20 min depending.If the roads were good, it wasn't much more than an hour. It was worth the drive because i loved my job. Like LOVE it. You just kind of get used to it and accept thats how is. Now when I moved back into town, and I don't have to commute anymore, man is it great. I have more time in the evening to workout, or do whatever. It is 2 hrs of your day gone. But its only 3 days a week. So overall its not the end of the world. Were looking at re-locating to different state. I will have to commute again, but its really not so bad. Driving is a good time to listen to podcasts, wind down from your day etc.