30 Best Side Hustles for Nurses to Earn Extra Money

Being a nurse doesn't mean you can not have a side hustle. You can have a side hustle as a nurse, either a side hustle that involves you directly associating with patients or indirectly associating with them. In all, you just have a side source of income that you can rely on aside from your main pay at your nursing job.

Some of these jobs have been made easier due to technology and you can make money online (remotely) as a nurse, so you do not have to be present at your side job.

Although some of these side hustle still involves your physical presence, there are also good ways to have more than one stream of income.

Below are some side hustles to start as a nurse:

1. Telehealth Nurse

Technology has advanced so much and this has led to the rise of telemedicine and this implies that there are new job opportunities for telehealth nurses. These nurses offer their services by providing care virtually using videoconferencing, phones, or chat technologies. These nurses may conduct virtual health assessments and communicate with patients about their medical conditions and they can also recommend when their patients need to seek care in person.

An average telehealth nurse earns $83,000 as stated by surveys in Feb 2024, according to Pay scale. To be able to work as a telehealth nurse, you must have a nursing license, which is an additional advantage for nursing practitioners. To be able to effectively do this job, you need to have strong communication skills and also have good knowledge and ability to use technologies to offer your services.

Below are some advantages and disadvantages of a telehealth nurse:

Advantage of Telehealth Nurse

Being a telehealth nurse offers you a flexible schedule which allows you to work from home, and have side gigs opportunities to earn from and also protects you since there is less exposure to the risk of infections.

Disadvantage of Telehealth Nurse

Due to the nature of the job, you might be restricted by regulations to work strictly with patients only in your state, also depending on your job, you might be open to work on irregular hours like nights and weekends.

2. Vaccine or Immunization Nurse

Nurses should be very critical when administering vaccines and immunization to protect people from infectious diseases. Most clinics, community health organizations and local health centers that offer vaccination and immunization services hire nurses to provide these services. These vaccination and immunization nurses also educate the public about immunisations and vaccinations and why people should take them.

These vaccine and immunization nurses are responsible for keeping the vaccinations of children up to date and also administering flu and COVID-19 shots to adults. They make use of handling practices that are safe for both the patients and themselves and they are also responsible for keeping records of vaccination and their schedule.

These nurses can sometimes be called public health nurses, whether they work in an immunization clinic, a pharmacy, or a mobile vaccine unit.

Advantages of Vaccine or Immunization Nurse

They are responsible for community health and make a difference in the community, flexible schedules because most vaccine clinics operate only during business hours.

Disadvantages of Vaccine or Immunization Nurse

It may come with some stress, especially during enlightenment or campaign periods and also if patients struggle during vaccination shots.

3. Medical Biller or Coder

This type of job is specifically meant for nurses who can make use of electronic health records to communicate patients' information. As a medical biller or cider, you must be able to use your knowledge of medicine and its terminologies to manage health records, which might include entering medical information into patients ' e-files, managing insurance records or flagging potential inaccuracies.

Although it is a good side hustle for nurses, the potential salary earnings are very low. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical record specialists earn an average annual pay of about $47,180 which is less than most RN jobs even though the field is reporting strong job growth progressions.

Advantages of Medical Biller or Coder

There is a high demand for medical billers and coders, which means there will be more job opportunities available. You may be able to get another job or pick up additional hours at your workplace.

Disadvantages of Medical Biller or Coder

There is a very low potential earning when compared to other nursing side gigs. Some employers find it better to hire people with medical coding or billing certifications, which makes it difficult for those without these certifications to get the job.

4. Freelance Nurse Writer

As a nurse with good writing skills and very strong communication skills, you can get yourself a side gig as a freelance nurse writer. As a freelance writer, you can write for websites, news outlets, and magazines that involve health information. You can also make use of your specialized clinical and medical knowledge to make yourself stand out as a freelance writer.

Depending on the nature of the job, you might work alone or work together with an editor to conduct interviews or make revisions or corrections based on the editor's choice. However, you must make sure to give detailed and genuine information to the audience as you are communicating health to them.

You can write as a side hustle or you can become a full-time nurse writer, which all depends on what you want. As a nurse writer, you can write in niches like medical writing, health and wellness, or even dieting.

Advantages of Freelance Nurse Writer

As a nurse writer, you have a flexible schedule and tons of opportunities with many organizations that are looking for healthcare professionals to write content for them.

Disadvantages of Freelance Nurse Writer

There are tight deadlines and inconsistent jobs can make it a stressful job and you most likely need to always negotiate your pay.

5. Childcare Provider

A good background in nursing can help you go into the childcare industry, especially if you have pediatric nursing experience. Many children's facilities look for caregivers to take care of their clients and also, many parents seek private caregivers to look after their kids while they are away with work or any other important matters. As long as you can meet the children's basic needs and promote their health and safety, you can start a side hustle as a caregiver.

The age of the children you are taking care of might carry, you might have to support infants and toddlers or you help school-aged children with their homework. As a caregiver, you may also be given the responsibility to make lesson plans, give daily reports of the children to their parents and create engaging activities to enhance the health and well-being of the children.

Advantages of Childcare Provider

There is a very high demand for childcare providers, including childcare services and nannies. Picking up the children all works on your schedule.

Disadvantages of Childcare Provider

Most childcare services have low salaries and you will also need a lot of patience to be able to go through the stress of taking care of children.

6. Health Tutor Instructor

As a nursing graduate with an RN license, you can become a nursing tutor if you know how to tutor people. As a health tutor or instructor, your responsibility might be to prepare a student for a quiz, review materials for NCLEX RN exams or even brush up on basic clinical skills. As a nurse, you can also tutor undergraduate students in health and science classes.

To become a health tutor or instructor, you need to have a very good result from nursing school and a great teaching skill. You can seek nursing tutoring opportunities through nursing schools, local tutoring agencies or even websites where these tutors mark their services directly to students as private tutors.

Advantages of Health Tutor Instructor

As a nursing tutor or instructor, you have a flexible schedule and you have the opportunity to set tutoring sessions around your other work; you also obtain a sense of fulfillment whenever your students pass or achieve what they were preparing for.

Disadvantages of Health Tutor Instructor

The pay can be irregular and this depends on the demand and the settings of the work; you will need patience and persistence to be able to impact knowledge.

7. Adjunct Nursing Instructor

As a nursing graduate with a degree in nursing, good results, and great teaching and supervisory skills, you can become an adjunct nurse as a side hustle. An adjunct nursing instructor is someone who supervises nursing students during their clinical studies and also instructs them in some aspects. As an adjunct nursing instructor, you can also teach classes in hospitals, nursing schools and other settings.

Nurses who are successful in being adjunct nursing instructors, become experts in the field and also in patients, and they also help in encouraging learning. You can also consider another nurse educator, Carrera, as an adjunct nursing instructor.

Advantages of Adjunct Nursing Instructor

There is a high demand for nursing instructors; as a nursing graduate with a good result, it might be easier for you to get this job; compared to bedside nurses, adjunct nurses go through less stress.

Disadvantages of Adjunct Nursing Instructor

These nurse educator jobs mostly require a graduate-level degree during application; the pay for an adjunct can be low depending on your job description and the area you are working.

8. Private Duty or Home Health Nurse

Home nurses are nurses who take care of patients in their own homes. These nurses monitor the vital signs of their patients, administer the required medication, and operate the necessary medical equipment. Some individuals also hired private NICU or PICU nurses to supervise and watch over newborns overnight.

Depending on the license you have, you might be put to work under the supervision of an RN nurse, a nurse practitioner, or a physician. The demand for home care nurses is growing every day, making job opportunities for home health nurses increase.

Private Duty nurses provide palliative care. They also care for patients with disabilities or special needs and also patients discharged from the hospital and transition back into their homes. If you want to become a private duty nurse, the requirement depends on the patient you are working with.

Advantages of Private Duty or Home Health Nurse

There is a high demand for private duty nurses; developing a strong relationship with your patients; and home care settings offer fewer clinical settings than hospitals.

Disadvantages of Private Duty or Home Health Nurse

Home care implies that there is less medical equipment and support for the patient in the case of an emergency; you may need to travel to the homes of these patients and if you have multiple patients to take care of, it becomes stressful.

9. Camp Nurse

Camp nurses are those nurses who work at nature camps, retreats or any other outdoor setting where they take care of the members of the camp or retreat. These nurses are responsible for administering medications, providing people with basic medical care and also offering advice to people on when and how to seek additional medical care.

Camp nurses mostly work as independent nurses in locations that do not have a close by medical center.

Advantages of Camp Nurse

There is a relaxed and mature-filled environment to practice nursing; there are travel and adventure opportunities for you as a camp nurse; you have a close relationship with your patients; there is also a potential discounted or free camp fee for nurses' kids.

Disadvantages of Camp Nurse

These jobs are mostly seasonal and not constant; you may have to work without the support of any healthcare provider.

10. Medical Transcriber

A medical transcriber is someone, most likely a medical personnel, who listens to voice recordings of healthcare professionals and transcribes them into medical reports. They are also responsible for reviewing medical records to ensure they are accurate.

As a medical transcriber, you are responsible for the interpretation of patient information, results of physical examination of patients, and also instructions on discharge. You can use some tools to make your job easier, like speech recognition software, to create your transcription drafts.

You will be able to understand medical terminology and other information people find as jargon due to your background in nursing school and also following confidentiality regulations will be easy for you since you passed through it in nursing school.

Advantages of Medical Transcriber

As a transcriber, you have a flexible schedule; as an expert in the nursing field, you have an advantage when making drafts.

Disadvantages of Medical Transcriber

There is a decline in the demand for medical transcribers according to BLS; there is also the possibility of a lower salary compared to professional nursing jobs.

11. Nurse Influencer

As a nurse Influencer, you are combining both education and entertainment. You share your knowledge and expertise with your audience on social media platforms to improve the public health and wellness of society.

As a nurse influencer, your responsibility ranged from sharing nursing school tips on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube or Instagram or even making video content of your days. You use your position as an influencer to raise public awareness of your profession while also communicating important information to your audience. However, you must watch out so as not to violate any nursing policies or regulations, which include sharing images or videos of patients without authorization.

Advantages of Nurse Influencer

There is a high flexibility for nurse Influencers and they can also have other jobs and still do this as a side gig; this is an opportunity for you to build a brand for yourself and a platform to share ideas.

Disadvantages of Nurse Influencer

There is a low-income potential; this side gig can be a little difficult since building followers on social media is not a quick job and requires time and patience; Some medical centers have contract clauses which involve responsible postings on social media and this can serve as a limitation to what nurses can post; it requires technical knowhow.

12. PRN or Per Diem Nurse

Per diem, nurses are nurses who work as temporary nurses for a small time frame like a day. Hospitals or healthcare facilities may hire PRNs to cover vacant nursing spaces on a busy day. Depending on the contract of the job, per diem nurses may be able to work on call or for multiple employers.

Being a per diem RN offers you a very flexible schedule. For example, you can be able to fill in for jobs in different locations in a day. However, this type of job also has its disadvantages, which are variability of schedule and also a lack of benefits.

Advantages of PRN or Per Diem Nurse

As a per diem RN, you receive an hourly pay rate which, when aggregated, can be high; you also can pick up shifts given you a flexible schedule.

Disadvantages of PRN or Per Diem Nurse

Contract roles can be a disadvantage because they give you little guarantee to work with other employers; there are little to no benefits for per diem nurses; during laying off of staff, per diem, nurses are usually the first to be laid off by a medical center.

13. Paid Medical Survey Panelist

Most organizations turn to healthcare professionals to help them to take surveys. As a nurse, you can choose to pick up jobs as a paid medical survey panelist. As a survey panelist, only a little of your time is needed, ranging from 5 to 10 minutes to a few hours to conduct or analyse surveys. The pay also varies depending on the job description and the employer.

This can be an easy side hustle for nurses who have a very busy schedule so they can perform surveys based on their availability. Depending on the opportunity you are presented with, you can decide to pick up a solid check for medical survey panels that require healthcare experience.

Advantages of Paid Medical Survey Panelist

There is flexibility and you can accept surveys based on your schedule since it only takes a few minutes to hours; there are opportunities for surveys with high earning potential that do not require a high time commitment.

Disadvantages of Paid Medical Survey Panelist

Some surveys have very low earning potential; it becomes difficult when you need to search and identify reliable and good earning potential survey organizations to work with as a nurse.

14. Traveling Phlebotomist

As a traveling phlebotomist or a mobile phlebotomist, your responsibility is to get blood samples into non-clinical locations. For instance, as a mobile phlebotomist, you might work at a mobile blood drive which will require you to travel to nursing homes or visit your patients' homes to take their blood samples.

As a nurse who already has knowledge in clinical skills and can work in phlebotomy, this is a good side job for you since you can earn extra money by just drawing blood samples. However, you need to search and identify mobile phlebotomist job opportunities in your area, which may be limited.

Being a traveling phlebotomist can also give you experience in traveling or handling different patient types and also give you access and good relationships with certain patients and medical centers.

Advantages of Traveling Phlebotomist

Organizations or healthcare centers that hire phlebotomists probably because of staffing shortages usually offer high potential earnings; you can get employed in various settings and with different types and conditions of patients.

Disadvantages of Traveling Phlebotomist

There is a low demand for mobile phlebotomists; if you are a contract worker, you may begin to lack stability between your contracts; you need to have good nursing knowledge and expertise in phlebotomy to be able to get jobs and work as a mobile phlebotomist.

15. Clinical Research Nurse

Clinical research nurses are nurses who perform studies and research on nursing practice and patient care. They can also be directly involved with patients participating in the research studies. You can begin a career as a clinical research nurse by contributing to studies and research conducted in hospitals or academic settings.

To become a research nurse, you need a BSN and most clinical research jobs require a master's degree. These jobs also require strong analytical and data-processing skills.

Advantages of Clinical Research Nurse

Being a clinical research nurse will help you expand your knowledge in your nursing field and the medical field in general; research jobs are sometimes less physically demanding compared to nursing jobs; most clinical research jobs have a high payment setup.

Disadvantages of Clinical Research Nurse

Most research roles may move you from nursing bedside settings since they most often require frequent studies and analysis; as a clinical research nurse, you may need a good graduate degree or a master's degree for most opportunities.

16. Lactation Consultant

A lactation consultant is a person who specializes in giving consultancy on issues concerning breastfeeding. As a nurse, you can start a career as an independent lactation consultant or you may choose to work with a healthcare center or professional. Your job description might be for you to work in a hospital or other healthcare facilities or go to your patient's home and offer consultancy services.

You can also decide to have your office as an independent lactation consultant and your patients can visit your office for consultation.

Advantages of Lactation Consultant

You have a flexible schedule since consultations do not take a lot of time; you get to have a close relationship with your patients.

Disadvantages of Lactation Consultant

If you have another job aside from being a lactation consultant, you might be tied in your jobs, especially if your consultancy requires you to go to your patient's homes.

17. Night Nanny

A night nanny is mostly called a night nurse if the nannies are nurses, us someone who specializes in childcare. These nurses are responsible for attending to children overnight. As a night nurse, you would be employed by a family who just had a baby mist, especially within the first few weeks or months of the baby. You will be responsible for attending to the child's needs both physically and medically during the nighttime and you might be employed to teach the parents of the baby how to take care of a newborn.

Advantages of Night Nanny

Since this job is only during the night, you can also have a job during the day hereby having two sources of revenue.

Disadvantages of Night Nanny

Sometimes there might be emergencies regarding your patient during the day which you have to check on and this will likely interfere with your day job if you have one.

18. CPR Instructor or First Aid Instructor

As a CPR instructor or first aid instructor, your responsibility is to teach and instruct others on how to carry out CPR and first aid. These classes are mostly held for general first aid lessons, or specifically for a group of people. As a nurse, you will be hired by a healthcare center, an organization or an NGO that specializes in outreaches to teach other basic first aid skills and CPR instructions.

These classes may take a few hours a week and maybe for expecting families, people preparing for the wilderness, employees in an industry or organization, and even people who are getting into sailing.

Advantages of a CPR Instructor or First Aid Instructor

You have a flexible schedule since most of these jobs are seasonal and not continuous jobs; you have the opportunity to be able to work with multiple organizations at the same time.

Disadvantages of CPR Instructor or First Aid Instructor

Most job openings require thorough experience in CPR; there is limited demand for instructors.

19. Virtual Assistant

As a nurse, you can become a virtual assistant for a professional medical personnel or even someone outside your field. Being a medical virtual assistant, you will be responsible for setting meetings and creating schedules for the person you work for. If you are working for a medical practitioner, you might be responsible for scheduling consultations, treatments or follow-ups for your boss.

If you have good management and communication skills, you can consider starting a side gig as a virtual assistant. You can seek jobs from busy nurses or doctors who need to get their schedules fixed by someone.

Advantages of a Virtual Assistant

Since being a virtual assistant means you work remotely. There is less stress compared to a bedside nursing job.

Disadvantages of a Virtual Assistant

You may not have flexible schedules sometimes since you have to be always available to create schedules for the person you work for.

20. Start a YouTube Channel

You can start a YouTube channel and share health and wellness tips on your channel for your audience. If you have good video editing and communication skills, you can start a YouTube channel and build your follower base. It needs dedication and consistency to start earning from your YouTube channel.

You can warm through advertising products for others, sponsored posts or reviewing products in your niche.

Advantages of Starting a YouTube Channel

It is stress-free; and has a flexible schedule since you can make content in the comfort of your home within a few hours.

Disadvantages of Starting a YouTube Channel

Requires technical know-how; does not start paying off immediately.

21. Cosmetic Nurse

As a cosmetic nurse, you are responsible for giving injections, which are for cosmetic and beauty purposes, photo facials, microblading and other jobs. You can work in a cosmetic clinic which specializes in cosmetic surgeries and other reconstructive surgeries, or you can work in a spa.

Advantages of Cosmetic Nurse

You can gain experience in the cosmetic and beauty industry as a cosmetic nurse.

Disadvantages of Cosmetic Nurse

This type of job rarely accepts part-time nurses since it involves thorough check-ups so you do not have a flexible schedule and might not be able to have two jobs; most of these jobs require an experience in beauty or cosmetics.

22. Start or Join a Focus Group

A focus group is a group of individuals who give opinions or feedback regarding certain products or services. These companies use this feedback and opinions to improve their products and or services. They seek focus groups when they want to carry out market surveys.

Most companies that produce products or services that are relatable to the healthcare field usually employ healthcare professionals as part of their focus groups to gain opinions and feedback on their products or services.

Advantages of Starting or Joining a Focus Group

Flexible schedule; you can use this opportunity to learn about different products and services that you can recommend to your patients.

Disadvantages Starting or Joining a Focus Group

Getting these jobs is sometimes difficult due to the low demand; payment potential for most of these jobs is low.

23. Personal or Private Nurses

Some people who can afford private medical care hire private nurses who are responsible for the health and wellness of their household. Whenever a member of the household needs medical attention, the nurse can be called to check them out. As a private nurse, you may work independently if you are an expert or you might work under a doctor or any professional medical practitioner.

You have the advantage of being able to work for more than one patient or client as a private nurse and you get paid better since it is a private service.

Advantages of Personal or Private Nurses

You have flexible schedules since your job comes once in a while; you have a close relationship with your patients; your earning potential is high.

Disadvantages of Personal or Private Nurses

Most private nurse job opportunities require great skills and expertise and if you are a new nurse, you might find it difficult to get a job as a private nurse.

24. Write Books

You can use your nursing degree, you can use your clinical knowledge to write books to educate people about health and wellness. If you have good writing and communication skills, you can consider putting those skills into creating a good of yours and publishing it.

To write a book, you have to first get your desired topic, do research about that topic, and then create a draft about the book you want to write. After you have created your draft, you can then use your draft to write a copy but you must edit your copy before going ahead to publish them.

Advantages of Writing Books

Flexible schedule since you can write books in your free time while still going on with your job; you have the opportunity to use your knowledge to impact others.

Disadvantages of Writing Books

Do not give profit or payment immediately; you have to be consistent in marketing and advertising your book to make sales.

25. Sell Digital Products

If you do not have the initial capital to print books and publish them, you can consider creating digital products instead. Digital products are products that you buy and have access to them online. They include ebooks, videos, illustrations or recordings of lessons.

As a nurse, you can use your clinical knowledge to create digital products during your free time, which you can create classes and sell them to your students over and over again without much additional effort.

Advantages Selling Digital Products

Flexible schedule since you can create digital products during your leisure time even as a worker; once you create your digital products, you can sell them over and over again.

Disadvantages of Selling Digital Products

Requires time and effort before you make great sales; requires technical know-how.

26. Sell Physical Products

You can create physical products that relate to health and recommend them to your patients. You can choose to sell these products online or offline. You can combine selling physical products with your nursing job, alongside being a nurse influencer. Being a nurse influencer makes it easier for you to advertise your products since you already have a loyal follower base.

You can recommend these products to your patients or collaborate with other brands or businesses with similar customers online so you can advertise your products online and make sales.

Advantages of Selling Physical Products

It is a very good side gig opportunity since you can sell your products both offline and online and still build a brand.

Disadvantages of Selling Physical Products

The earning potential depends on the type of product you are selling.

27. Therapy

You can become a therapist and, as a nursing graduate, this will make it easier to get your necessary certifications and licenses to practice therapy legally. Due to the increased rate of mental well-being problems, there is a high demand for therapists and, as someone with a healthcare background, you can even administer treatments for certain medical conditions.

You can offer medical advice alongside your therapy to help your patients recover faster from their traumas. You can also offer online therapy sessions to your clients or patients.

Advantages of Therapy

The earning potential is high; there is flexibility since therapy sessions work by your schedules; you have a chance of having a close relationship with your patients; there is also a huge demand for therapists.

Disadvantages of Therapy

With time, you may not be able to operate two jobs as a therapist, especially if you have many clients or patients.

28. Pet Sit

You can start a side job as a pet sitter, especially if you work as a night nurse. Since you have clinical knowledge, you can recommend when your client should see a veterinarian for a checkup and it will be easier for you to detect abnormalities in the health of their pet than someone without clinical knowledge.

Advantage Pet Sit

You have a flexible schedule as a pet sitter; it would be earning and doing what you love if you love pets.

Disadvantages Pet Sit

You might not be able to detect some medical conditions since you are not a veterinarian; low earning potential.

29. Personal Clinic

As an RN, you can have a clinic where you practice nursing and still work at another healthcare center as a resident nurse. When your service is needed by your resident workplace, you will be contacted. This means that you can earn as a nurse in your clinic and still be a resident nurse in another clinic.

Advantages of Personal Clinic

you have a wide stream of income.

Disadvantages of Personal Clinic

in most cases, working in two different health centers can be very tasking for nurses.

30. A Mini Bakery

As a nurse who knows how to bake, you can start up a small bakery at your house and sell your products to your neighbors, supermarkets in your locality or even at your workplace as a nurse. Your colleagues might be interested in buying your products.

Advantages of A Mini Bakery

You can be a baker and still be a nurse, thereby increasing your income stream; you can sell your baking products online and build a brand.

Disadvantages of A Mini Bakery

You mostly have the opportunity to market your products online, since you do not have that much opportunity to market and advertise your products offline as a nurse.

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Conclusion

Being a nurse doesn't stop you from having more than one income stream. You can choose various job opportunities which strictly involve clinical knowledge as a nurse. You can choose remote or onsite jobs which all depend on the job description, your skills and your type of main job.