Traveling Nurses
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 12:44 p.m., January 8, 2008
Updated 12:44 p.m., January 8, 2008
Whether it be to Emporia or from it, many local nurses commute to their daily jobs.
Julie Weakley of Admire drives to Emporia each day for her job at Newman Regional Health. Jon Quanstrom of Emporia works at Newman about once a week, but the rest of his work week, he travels to Topeka, where he works at Stormont-Vail Health Center.
Weakley, who lives south of Admire, used to make the drive daily to Topeka, where she worked at St. Francis Medical Center and Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center. She worked in various departments including the intensive care unit and a cardiology group.
Weakley said she chose to commute for the experience.
“I wanted to be in a bigger facility and get more experience as a new nurse,” she said, adding that, for many, commuting is worth it. “There’s a lot of people that commute. It’s amazing to me how many do.”
In 1999, Weakley started working in Emporia in the emergency room to shorten her drive. She spent a total of 14 years driving to Topeka, which was about a 45-mile drive one-way, she said. Emporia is about 17 miles one-way.
Weakley, who graduated from the Emporia State University School of Nursing, said when she started out working in Topeka she worked nights and then switched to days. She chose the profession for its variety, she said.
“I like the variety and the challenge of it,” she said. “And meeting all kinds of people.”
After many years of driving to Topeka, Weakley realized how much money she was spending commuting.
“One time I figured it out and I would have to make the max in Topeka to even break even,” She said, adding that with gas prices on the rise, she picked a good time to switch.
Many nurses who travel carpool, Weakley said.
“I did carpool for a short time,” she said.
Quanstrom, who graduated from ESU in 2004, carpools to Topeka with five other people. He said the group carpools whenever they can get their schedules together and make a carpool schedule. The drive takes about an hour.
“It costs about $20 a day to drive to work,” he said. “Every time you carpool, it saves about $20 a day.”
Quanstrom works in the intensive care unit at Stormont-Vail. He’s been there for about 3 1/2 years, he said.
Flexibility is what drew Quanstrom to the profession, he said. He has a choice in his scheduling, which includes not having to work Monday through Friday.
“I wanted to work in ICU in a larger hospital,” he said, adding that in the ICU he sees a wide variety of patients, from trauma to surgical and cardiac cases.
“This week, I’ve had everything,” he said.