Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system of any country, and the Covid19 pandemic has proven it once again. Nurses being at the forefront, taking care of patients and promoting health have always been the critical part of the healthcare system.
The World Health Organization designated the year 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, which was a bit overshadowed due to the pandemic. However, the pandemic did help us witness the extreme challenges nurses face worldwide and their vast contributions.
Another positive impact of Covid19 on the field of nursing is that it drastically increased the demand for RNs around the world, and this demand doesn’t seem to go down even in the post pandemic world. In fact, nurses will be required more than ever before from now onwards.
Working from home is the new norm across many industries; even big companies are considering permanent work from home options for their employees. And you will be surprised to know that the field of nursing is no exception.
Yes, the typical thought we have about nurses is “registered nurses providing in-person care”, however, there are a lot more opportunities for nurses than working in a hospital or clinic, and a lot of these are highly paying jobs and the best thing about these nursing careers is that they have the flexibility of working from home.
This article will list six work from home jobs for nurses. So, if you are a Registered Nurse and you are interested in transitioning out of traditional care, these home based nursing jobs can be a great use of your nursing degree. You cannot just continue your spirit of caregiving, but also grow your nursing career to an administrative or research level.
Top 6 Nursing Jobs from Home
The list is exciting, however, you must know that most of these nursing jobs require at least 3 years of clinical experience. So, if you have spent enough time in the field, you can surely transition out to a new type of nursing career. Let’s see what are the options
1- Telephone Triage Nurse
Even before the outbreak of Covid19 pandemic, highly busy medical centers and private clinics often used to run triage by telephone. A highly qualified nurse speaks with patients, assesses their symptoms, and recommends the best course of action before they show up to the facility.
Since the work of these nurses is mainly done via telephone, they can easily work from home. In the post pandemic world, more doctors and hospitals would want to prevent unnecessary visits so they can focus on urgent cases better. On the other hand, telephone triage can save time and money for the patients as well, so the demand for triage nurses will always be there.
Of course, you would need nursing experience in a clinical setting before taking on this home nursing job.
2- Insurance Claims Adjuster
Health insurance companies need people with health care knowledge (preferably Registered Nurses) to review and investigate insurance claims and confirm whether or not certain services/medicines/procedures are covered.
Since RNs are very much familiar with medical records, treatment plans, and other details, they can be great assets for insurance companies either working directly or under the supervision of an adjuster.
Making the transition from a typical caregiving career to working as an insurance claims specialist is not very difficult and the job has flexibility of working from home too. Yes, there can be a massive workload sometimes, but with effective planning, you can always handle work from home deadlines effectively.
3- Case Manager Nurse
Another administrative opportunity for Registered Nurses is becoming a case management nurse whereby you are responsible for evaluating and implementing healthcare plans for individual patients, handling long and short-term disability claims for patients, etc.
This job requires a nurse to collaborate and communicate effectively with physicians, employers, and insurance companies to make sure all the parties are on the same page while the patient gets the right treatment.
Since most of the work of an RN case manager can be done via phone or email, it can be done easily from home. You can always use some work from home productivity tools to optimize your performance and get more done in less time.
4- Nurse Educator
Since nursing is a growing field and with a growing population, the demand for new nurses is always there. If you are already a Nurse Educator, you should know that most nurses have busy schedules now, and considering this fact, many colleges and universities are offering online education options for LPN-to-RN and ADN-to-BSN programs and some universities are even offering nurse practitioner degree programs online.
Though teaching is not for everyone, if you are eager to pursue a career as an educator, you can do it by fulfilling some prerequisites. Clinical nurse educators need two to three years of hands-on nursing experience before they can teach clinical. Moreover, the classroom nurse educators generally pursue an MSN or Ph.D. degree while the ones who want to pursue a career as an educator while focusing on practice and patient care opt for DNP.
5- Nurse Writer / Blogger
Medical writing is a challenging yet highly paying field. It requires excellent writing skills, extensive knowledge, thorough understanding of the field, and parallel research skills to ensure the correct use of medical terminology, validating procedures and treatments, etc.
If you are someone who enjoys writing, maybe you can start with a blog and start looking for writing assignments on freelancing websites. If you are really great at this job, you can consider turning your part time gig into a full time home based career.
6- Nursing Informatics
A large number of healthcare tech startups are working on innovative solutions that use technology to improve patient care in the healthcare system. Many of these businesses look for nurses as consultants and the job can easily be done from home.
Your clinical experience, education, and research can help startups to develop innovative solutions that help the healthcare professionals better serve patients. Since the industry is growing faster, there can be numerous growth prospects in this field, however, to land such a position you must have a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree and several years of clinical experience.
The Bottom Line
Registered nurses have always been in demand, but now they are in demand in various sectors beyond just the hospitals and medical centers, i.e. Insurance, legal, corporations, economy, technology, and more.
I am sure you will find the above list useful if you are looking for a nursing job that offers flexible schedules and where you can work from home and find a work/life balance.
