Personal Finance / Side Hustles for Nurses
Nursing positions pay well, but sometimes you need extra cash, don’t want to limit yourself to patient care, or just feel the need to explore something different. If any of those descriptions resonate with you, you may want to consider picking up a side hustle to supplement your income, let you explore your creativity, or let you increase your knowledge of other practice areas.
When it comes to choosing a side hustle, the sky’s the limit. Opportunities are available in many forms.
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Below, you’ll find several ideas for side hustles that are specifically suited to nurses.
1. Freelance nurse writer
Freelance writing about health or professional issues is a great side hustle for nurses with strong communication skills. Many organizations are desperate for nursing insights for their websites.
Nurse freelance writers can provide content for the many mediums, such as:
Website content: Write pages for a company’s website.
Web-based magazines: Publish articles relevant to the nursing field.
Email marketing: Write promotional messages in keeping with the client’s goals to be sent to their targeted mailing list.
Blogging: Write content for the company you represent as part of their marketing strategy.
Social media writer: Compose interesting posts in support of client branding strategies.
What you need to start
Freelance writing is all about networking. You can create a free portfolio on Clippings.me and then join a site that helps you find clients, such as Upwork. Set your fee, but it’s a good idea to start low until you gain clients and your reputation grows. Then you can gradually raise your fees and charge more.
Freelance writing can be a lucrative and enjoyable gig for nurses.
2. Telehealth nurse
This is an emerging role that became especially relevant during the pandemic. Telehealth nurses provide high-quality healthcare to patients through video, phone, or email.
According to the American Hospital Association, 76 percent of U.S. hospitals connect with patients through video and other technology. If you enjoy working from home and want a flexible schedule, this might be the perfect fit for you.
What you need to start
This role requires three to five years of bedside or RN experience, a background check, and an unrestricted RN license. You also need a strong Internet connection, up-to-date computer equipment, and excellent computer skills.
3. Part-time caregiver
As a part-time caregiver, you will be responsible for meeting a variety of needs for a patient.
These may include bathing and hygiene, cooking and serving food, helping with exercise routines, performing household chores like laundry, and more.
Part-time caregivers tend to make around $16.00 an hour, presenting the perfect opportunity to use their nursing skills to earn extra money. If you work only 20 hours a week as a part-time caregiver, this puts an extra $1,385 in your bank account each month.
4. CPR instructor
Putting your CPR teaching certificate to good use can earn you almost twice as much as being a part-time caregiver. If you’re not currently certified to teach CPR, click here. You can work with an employer or employment agency to find facilities in need of your CPR training services, or if you prefer, you can start your own small CPR training brand. This allows you to set your own rates and schedule. Of course, that also means you’ll need to take charge of your own marketing and networking, but there’s a lot of appeal to working as much or as little as you want.
5. Healthcare documentation specialist
This role requires translating voice recordings from doctors and other medical professionals into a written document. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you can use speech recognition technology to help transcribe.
The great news is that there’s a lot of demand for this type of work. Sites such as Fiverr and GoTranscript are great platforms for finding assignments, and these sites are free. The only requirement is that you have good grammar and strong internet, but if you want to continue learning and boost your resume, earning an associate degree or certificate in anatomy or medical terminology can help your cause.
Nurses have many great opportunities for making extra money, and many of them will also increase your knowledge or engagement with the world outside of clinical practice. If you need help finding your main gig, try Incredible Health and find a job that’s right for you.
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