Being a registered nurse doesn’t mean you have to work within a health care facility all your life. Sooner or later, you will be needing a more flexible schedule either to take care of your growing kids or to recuperate from a temporary or permanent disability.
Fortunately, modern advancements in technology have paved the way for remote or home-based jobs. Thousands of people have left traditional employment and embraced the freelance lifestyle–nurses are no exception.
Also Read: Top 10 Job Hunting Tips For Nurses
From medical transcription jobs to case management positions, there are now plenty of work-at-home opportunities waiting for qualified nurses. The best part is you can do any of these jobs full-time or to simply boost your current income at the hospital.
We’ve searched far and wide to list down the best work-at-home opportunities that only require a Nursing degree, passion, and sheer determination. Here’s what we’ve come up with:
1. Clinical Research Associate
A clinical research associate (CRA) is someone who runs clinical trials to determine the risks, benefits, and potency of specific drugs before they become available in the market.
Although most CRAs are involved in field work, some companies now hire registered nurses to work from home. CRAs usually work for a pharmaceutical company or a contract research organization (CRO) which operates on behalf of the pharma company.
Companies such as Covance hire home-based clinical research associates from more than 25 countries (specifically U.S., Europe, and Canada) to work for their preclinical and clinical research operations. Simply use the keyword “home-based” when looking for opportunities in its job database.
2. Telephone Triage
Telephone triage or virtual nurses are usually hired by insurance companies to answer patients’ questions about their medical conditions or medications. The nurse also performs telephone triage and do all these tasks entirely through telephone or e-mail.
Aside from insurance companies, telephone triage nurses also offer consultative services for a variety of clients including doctor’s offices, military facilities, college health units, and doctor’s offices among others.
Average salary is $25 per hour or $61,402 per year.
For employment opportunities, you may visit Carenet and Fonemed.
3. Medical Transcriptionist
Medical transcriptionists are professionals with high degree of typing skills and knowledge about medical terms and abbreviations. For this reason, registered nurses are very qualified to do this work-at-home job.
Basically, a medical transcriptionist records the dictations of physicians and other health care professionals. The data they transcribe may come from important medical documents like operative reports and diagnostic results. This is why to succeed in this field, one must be an active listener and have the ability to type fast yet accurately.
Average salary for this home-based job is about $39,647 annually. Websites such as Health eCareers have plenty of medical transcriptionist jobs in their database.
Also Read: 10 Best Online Job Sites for Nurses
4. Legal Nurse Consultants
Legal nurse consultants are self-employed individuals who apply their hands-on clinical training and in-depth Nursing education into the litigation process. This enables them to work for attorneys and corporate clients who are looking for a qualified medical professional to review sensitive cases such as those involving injured workers.
Legal nurse consultants may work from home as a freelancer or secure full-time employment at law firms and risk management departments at their local hospital.
5. Utilization Review Nurse
Utilization review (UR) nurses partner with both patients and health care systems to ensure accurate, effective, and safe delivery of health care services. They help patients in making informed decision regarding their care while at the same time help the hospital in delivering only the necessary procedures as well as avoiding lengthy hospital stays.
Utilization review nurses are usually hired by insurance companies and government agencies such as Medicaid and Medicare to ensure the right patients receive the right amount and quality of care. Others now work remotely from their home offices and enjoy flexible schedules.
For more information about this home-based Nursing career, please visit this page.
