Side Hustles for Nurses

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Side hustles offer the chance to earn extra money, whether someone wants some extra spending money without having to pick up extra shifts or is trying to build another source of income. Nurses have the education and experience to participate and succeed in many side hustles in which others may not be able to be involved.

Health Coaching

Health coaches promote healthy lifestyles for those they coach. Nursing is an ideal background for this type of work, as they have a scientific-based understanding of what contributes to overall health, while maintaining a holistic overall view. Health coaching can be done through an employer or can be done by an individual. Health coaches can be generalists, promoting healthy lifestyles for everyone, or can be specialists, focusing on maintaining health while experiencing a particular medical condition.

Part-Time Caregiver Jobs

Part-time caregiver jobs provide nurses with side work caring for an individual who suffers from a chronic or end-stage condition and requires home nursing care. This is similar to home healthcare nursing, but instead of being visits arranged by an agency or employer, caregiving involves working with one or a few specific individuals on a more long-term basis. One of the appealing aspects of this job to some nurses is the ability to arrange their schedule and payment directly with the individual or his/her family.

Blogging

Blogging can be a very profitable side hustle for nurses, with some top nurse bloggers making over a million dollars a year. Blogging involves writing and publishing regular blog posts. Consistent and engaging content will create subscribers, allowing you to generate income through advertising or offering products. When blogging, nurses need to keep in mind not to divulge patient information or details that could allow people to identify whom they are writing about. Blogging is an appealing side hustle to many nurses because of the potential for it to grow into a significant source of income and because of the low initial costs.

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing involves writing medical content for others, typically businesses. This could be blogs, manuals, white papers, courses, or any other type of medical writing. Freelance writing has become easier to get into with sites such as Scripted, Upwork, and Fiver that connect freelance writers with potential clients. Medical freelance writing pay can vary, and some experienced writers may make up to $1 per word.

Tutoring

Experienced nurses are ideally situated to teach the next generation of nurses. Tutoring nursing students allows nurses to impact upcoming nurses while generating a side income. Tutors can make up to $60 an hour or more, depending on their level of nursing experience, education, and  teaching experience. Tutoring is great for nurses who love to teach and who want to help nursing students succeed.

Expert Witness

Expert witnesses are people who are considered experts in their profession and are willing to testify in court about the standard of care in medical malpractice cases. Many times in a civil case both the plaintiff and the defense will have expert witnesses who will provide an expert opinion to the court about what the professional medical standard of care should have been in a particular situation and if it was followed. While any nurse can serve as an expert witness, nurses who have more experience and more education will be seen as more credible and be more desired for this role. Nurses who work as an expert witness can make three to four times their clinical hourly rate.

Small Business

Nurses who are more committed to developing a side hustle as an alternative income source may start their own small business. Starting a business involves finding a service or product that you can sell. Nurses have invented and sold their own products or have found services that can use their skills and knowledge in new ways. Starting a business takes a lot of work but can provide a significant side income - and can even help nurses to become their own boss in the long term.

Most side hustles in nursing take extra work and time to get into. Some nurses may use their side hustle to generate some extra spending money, while others may choose to become more involved and can eventually generate substantially more than they could practicing clinically. Regardless of how involved you are in a side hustle, it does offer an appealing freedom and income that makes it worth it to most nurses.