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.
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.
Ugh that blew my mind when I traveled in LA. 6 mile drive too over 1 hr. *****!!!!! It was absolutely insane. Ive commuted 1 hr before, but on mostly highway where to me its relatively relaxing. Commuting in the big city like that is stressful as hell. Never again.
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.
Ok I get wear and tear to some degree and it does cost money to maintain, more gas, it certainly adds up, but then what is really the point of having a vehicle if you don't drive it? If you can afford it, why limit your potential happiness because you would rather not put miles on your car and have a 20-40K vehicle sitting in the garage doing nothing for you. To me if Its not going to eat into my budget too much, it is worth it.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
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.
If it was a job I wanted, I'd do it. My last job had a 17 mile commute -- over city streets, then interstate, then city streets again. In the summer, the commute could easily turn into an hour because of traffic and sports events; in the winter sometimes more like 20 minutes (once I got into the car and out of the parking garage.) I lived in an area where snow was heavy and plows were few, but following the bus routes to and from the interstate, there was only one time when I couldn't make the commute. (Mostly because I couldn't find my CAR under the deep snow.) It'w the first time I've ever had such a long commute, and I found that most days, I enjoyed it. I could blast whatever music *I* liked on the car radio and I could think/prepare/decompress. Sometimes I talked to my mother (headset) during the whole commute. It was the last few years that she was lucid, and I looked forward to that commute and would call her as soon as I was in the car and talk as long as she was able -- sometimes right up until I got to my locker.
My last job had me driving just about 2 hours each way, 3 days per week. Only a few times did I have to stay at a local motel there because I was too tired to drive home. A couple times when I would have to work 3 days in a row I was able to borrow an RV and stayed in the local area. Sure, I burned twice the fuel but the flip side of this was that I used net less because I only drove up and back once. I lasted 2 years at that job and started looking for a job closer to home. I found one that really was pretty close, less than 20 minutes.
Someone else brought this up too: with a longer commute, you will put some significant miles on the car. I've had my car for about 2 years now and I put over 100k miles on it. It was pretty easy miles but you end up buying tires fairly often and you do fairly frequent oil changes too. I'm on my 3rd set of tires since I bought the car and I've done oil changes about every 3 months. I've been pretty proactive about doing the maintenance and haven't had too many issues with the car itself. I do have to change the transmission fluid soon as it's now due. So definitely consider your options and while you may be losing a very short commute (0 minutes) you might be gaining stability, a pay raise, and perhaps some job mobility later on. Personally I think it's great that the hospital has in-house hospice services.
On the whole, would I do it all over again? Absolutely. Change a couple of minor things, sure, but otherwise I'd do it again if it was the right place to work. I'm also glad the new place I work is also a good place to work so I expect to be there a while. I've only been there a few months but there's some good people there and I'm learning where everything is still (considering things change around a bit from time to time, that's gonna happen anyway) but it's not like it would have been had I started there as a new grad. One downside of the new job is that I'm less than 20 minutes from home. I really don't have much time to shift mental gears from work to home and vice versa. The 2 hour commute I used to have was great for that. On the way home, I had 2 hours to decompress and I'd be ready for bed when I got home. Yes, that was a 16+ hour day every day I worked...
If it's a good place to work and is likely to treat you well, I'd suggest seriously looking at the job!
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!
In the past when working in Idaho, I commuted anywhere from 70-90 miles one way, or 140-180 round trip, every day.
Your commute sounds quite easy to me, but It's a personal preference and decision.
I just accepted a PRN position at a hospital 50 miles (hour commute)from me. For me, at this time, the long days will be worth it as I will only work weekends which is what I wanted. My advice is to at least try the position - if you find it's too much and are able to drop to 2 days a week then do that or if it's just too much then you can find something else. Weather/traffic are variables that will change depending on unforeseen circumstances but most days you go will be "usual" traffic etc. And I rather, like a few others have posted, drive for a job I like than one I don't.
I've done a 12-hour shift almost an hour away for years at a time. The shifts - including commute - are 12 plus 2 hours long, and you add another hour to the total in the winter when you have to clean the car off before driving (slower) in the snowstorms.
I would not take it if they wanted to schedule me 3-in-a-row, especially in the winter. When I'm gone for 15 hours/day, that's not quite enough time to get 8 hours sleep per night. I can do that for 2-in-a-row, but the third day is too much.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
There is 1 hospital in my town & then other hospitals 1 hour away. I figured after I become an RN if I didn't get a position in town I would apply to hospitals out of town, but then I thought about it. Do I really want to wake up extra early to drive to work, work 12 hours (or more) & then drive an hour home? That's 2 hours added on to a 12+ hour day, so there's no way I will apply to any hospitals outside of my town unless I move.
I worked where it is ice and snow for 8 months of the year. The road conditions are usually excellent. I would be more worried about the mental fatigue of working a long shift, and then add a staff meeting afterwards or over-time. There were many shifts I drove home on auto-pilot. And do as some suggested-do the drive during the hours you would be on the road. How is rush-hour traffic during the commutes? Or talk to the other nurse managers in the hospital. Do they need a new day nurse? And shame on your present nurse manager. At my hospital, if one couldn't work nights for sleep reasons or family, the nursing administration made a point of getting you off nights as quick as possible.
I wouldn't consider it if the type and length of shifts will aggravate your chronic pain issue.
Actually, the working from home position aggravates my chronic pain issue a lot! I would not have ever thought that this would be the case, but sitting in a chair at a computer for nine hours straight and getting slammed with phone calls and having to type, type, type during and after each one leaves me with a lot of pain from my shoulders down to my hips after every shift. I have tried four different desk chairs and several orthopedic seat cushions and lumbar support devices, all to no avail. I ache more after a shift at this job than I did after a shift at other jobs that were much more physical. Not being able to get up and move around really takes a toll on the body.
Creamsoda, ASN, RN
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Ugh that blew my mind when I traveled in LA. 6 mile drive too over 1 hr. *****!!!!! It was absolutely insane. Ive commuted 1 hr before, but on mostly highway where to me its relatively relaxing. Commuting in the big city like that is stressful as hell. Never again.