21 Side Hustles for Nurses to Earn Extra Cash in 2024

Sometimes, nurses need extra money. Fortunately, side hustles for nurses are typically high-paying and offer many options. The hard part, however, is finding something easily that fits into an already draining schedule.

I’ve found the best side jobs to help nurses make more money without burning out and working double shifts at their full-time jobs.

21 Side Hustles for Nurses

Check out all the best side hustles for nurses below:

Work From Home Nursing Jobs:

Nurses don’t have to work in a hospital or doctor’s office. Today, there are many ways nurses can work from home.

1. Telehealth Nurse

Telehealth is becoming much more popular today and can easily be a full-time career. During the pandemic, when many people wanted to avoid the doctor’s office, seeing patients online became more common. A telehealth nurse can evaluate patients from home and help them get proper treatment.

You can do this for a few hours a day as a side hustle or find a company offering full-time telework nursing jobs.

2. Medical Surveys

You can join in-person focus groups or answer online surveys for anything in the medical field, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, treatment, and new technology.

Your nursing background will ensure you provide valuable information that companies can use to improve their products and services.

To participate in medical surveys, you must be willing to provide your opinion verbally or written about the items in question. Some focus groups or phone interviews can last a few hours, but they usually pay well while you complete written surveys on your own time.

Writing Side Jobs for Nurses:

Nurses can do more than see patients. You can use your nursing education to help others by freelance writing.

3. Nurse Blogger or Health Writer

If you’re looking for something to do on your own schedule, consider starting your own nursing blog about the area you are most passionate and knowledgeable about. You can also work for someone as a health writer. Companies often need registered nurses and other medical professionals to provide them with quality written content to ensure its accuracy.

A natural side hustle for nurses is freelance healthcare writing. As a freelance writer, you can help medical companies with their web content, blogs, and educational content. There are also side hustles for nurses to help with marketing materials for medical facilities.

If you want to start your own blog, consider choosing an area you know that isn’t highly covered, but you are educated in.

4. Medical Transcription

If you need a nurse side hustle that doesn’t have you seeing patients or dealing with people, consider becoming a medical transcriptionist. Rather than dealing with people, you listen to audio and transcribe it into quality written content. You can do transcription whenever you have a quiet moment, making it great for parents after their kids go to bed.

Teaching Side Jobs:

Nurses don’t have to see patients; they can make money teaching in many ways. Even if you never saw yourself as a teacher, you can teach in person or from home and make money.

5. CPR Instructor

If you’re certified to teach CPR, you can make money as a CPR instructor. These classes are great for nursing side jobs because the lessons are short. You can work a couple of hours a week and make good extra money.

6. First Aid Instructor

If you’re already a nurse, you don’t need much training to become a first-aid instructor. However, you can help others learn proper first-aid techniques. This is a profitable side hustle for nurses because many companies require employees to take a first aid course periodically. You can do this job a few hours a week and make good money.

7. Teach or Tutor Nursing Students Online

Since you’re already a nurse, you know how hard the nursing exams and classes can be. Consider sharing your resources and helping nursing students excel in their studies by offering tutoring services online.

This is one of those nurse side hustles you can choose how you want to work it. You can teach in person or online, helping nursing students with their studies on everything from basic patient care to medical coding, or you can help students learn how to study for and pass the nursing exam.

Freelance Nursing Jobs:

Freelance nursing jobs are a great way to add to your income without dealing with another boss or following a strict schedule. Some of these ideas make great at-home nursing jobs, while others are in-person but done on your own time.

8. Health Coach

Health coaching can be a great option if you are passionate about helping others achieve their health goals. First, you decide what areas you want to focus on and what services you’ll offer. This can be one of the best virtual jobs for nurses because you can offer your services on Zoom or another online platform. If you prefer, you can provide in-person services too.

Decide what you’re most passionate and knowledgeable about and offer those health coaching services to your clients. For example, if you are great at helping people change their eating habits and lose weight, offer those services. If you prefer to help couples with fertility or individuals with joint issues, you can specialize in that, too.

The sky’s the limit when setting up your health coaching business. First, you decide what you’ll help with, how much you’ll charge, and how you’ll see clients for their sessions.

9. Per Diem Shifts

If you have extra time and want to pick up more nursing shifts, consider per diem shifts. Clipboard Health is a common company that offers shifts for nurses looking to get more hours as a part-time nurse without commitment.

With per diem shifts, you pick up shifts when you’re available. So you might pick up several shifts one week and then go a few weeks with nothing. There’s no commitment since it’s freelance. You choose your own hours and pick up shifts when you have the energy or need the money.

10. Part-time Caregiver

If you love helping people in need, consider becoming a part-time caregiver. This is another one of the great side jobs to make extra money.

You can network your services in your area or find a company that hires freelance caregivers. This is one of those cool nurse jobs where you can choose what type of patients you want to help.

For example, do you want to work with the elderly or children with special needs? You can also work with injured people who cannot help themselves. This may include helping them bathe, get dressed, prepare meals, or even grocery shop. Since you’re a registered nurse, you make the perfect candidate for helping others in need.

11. Lactation Consultant

If you have experience with moms and babies, one of the best nursing side hustles for you can be a lactation consultant. If you already do this at your full-time job or have the education to help moms with trouble lactating, you can offer your services in person or use it as one of the at-home nursing jobs.

You decide what hours you’ll work and what services you’ll offer. You can create packages or offer hourly services based on the needs in your area. New moms tend to undergo a lot of stress and anxiety, so any health concerns with their milk supply can feel devastating to them.

Having a registered nurse work as a lactation consultant and help them at home after they’ve left the hospital can provide them with the peace of mind they need.

12. Immunization Nurse

Immunization nurses are always in high demand, especially with the influx of vaccines society has had available to them lately. An immunization nurse works on-call, filling in where companies need it the most.

You can work this as a nursing side hustle, filling in when you have some free time and have the energy to deal with more patients. A nice benefit of working as an immunization nurse is you can even travel and offer your services. For example, during the pandemic, nurses flew from one state to another, helping to administer COVID-19 vaccines to help communities in need. So, find out where there’s a need for immunization nurses and fill in to make extra money.

13. Phlebotomist

If you have experience drawing blood, you can offer your services to needy clinics. This is a great way to make extra cash in areas with nursing shortages. In addition, there is usually a high demand for phlebotomists, so you’ll never be short of work when you want it.

14. Clinical Trial Nurse

Clinical trials are a way to get more medication and treatments out to society, but the trials must be complete before they can be released.

There is always a large number of clinical trials going on, especially at large universities and medical facilities. If you’re looking for side jobs to make extra money, this can be a great way. If you’re willing to travel, you can go to various universities and help them out, or you can stick to your local area and find healthcare providers administering the studies and offer your nursing services.

15. Maternal Care Provider

After a mom has her baby, she often needs help caring for the infant while she takes care of herself. If you work in mother-baby or want to help new moms, your services can come in handy.

Since you’re already in the nursing profession, you’re a great candidate to help new moms who are usually nervous and want only the best care for their babies. Moms who need this service are generally alone or have health issues they need to overcome to care for their babies.

This can be one of the most rewarding nursing side hustles because you get your baby fix and help moms in need.

16. Door-to-Door Nurse

A door-to-door nurse is another one of the great side hustles for nurses. You work when you want and can fill in hours when you have some spare time. As the name suggests, you are a mobile nurse who travels to patients’ homes, helping them with their needs.

You might help a person with basic bathing needs, administer medication, take blood tests, or help with any other basic medical needs a person may have. Some families of elderly individuals like to have a nurse check in on their loved ones even if they do it, too. They want to know their loved one is in good health and there aren’t any medical issues they should be aware of that might require immediate medical care.

17. Birth Doula

Working as a birth doula is one of the more challenging side jobs for nurses because, like a doctor, you are on call 24/7. You don’t know when the baby will be born, and if you’re the one delivering the baby, you need to be there.

This can be a great side hustle for nurses who work from home and have the ability to leave whenever necessary.

A doula helps pregnant mothers when they find out they’re pregnant and through the pregnancy to birth. Doulas help mothers have the most natural childbirth possible and can make good money working as a doula for a side job.

18. Cosmetic Injector

If you’re familiar with cosmetic fillers and are comfortable administering them, you can work a nursing side hustle offering cosmetic injections.

You can do this on an individual basis, visiting patients’ homes and administering the injections or even hosting spa parties.

Online Side Jobs for Nurses:

If you are interested in reaching a larger audience, take a look at these final side hustle options for nurses.

19. Create And Sell Courses Online

You don’t need a teaching degree to teach courses online. Creating online courses is a great side job for nurses because you can earn passive income.

You can create and sell courses in a few different ways. For example, some nurses prefer to teach live. They either teach in person or online. They have a live class, answer questions, and test students in their presence.

Others prefer to create content and sell it online on sites like Udemy. When creating an online course, you decide how to support your students. It could be a completely independent course, or you can offer support for an extra charge. For example, you can provide email, phone, or live support via Zoom or another platform.

When you sell courses online, it’s passive income because you create the course once and can sell it as many times as people want to buy it. Just make sure you keep your courses up to date. Either take them down or update them with the latest information if the information gets old.

20. Create A YouTube Channel

The sky’s the limit when making money on YouTube as a nurse. It might seem crazy that you could make money making videos, but it’s a great way to talk about healthcare services. In addition, you can offer videos that educate potential nursing students about the process, what to expect, and how to get through nursing school.

You can also create videos about your current profession, issues you see, and any help you can provide viewers.

You can monetize your videos, which means placing ads on them. The more viewers you get, the more extra cash you make, so make engaging content, and you’re more likely to make good money.

You could even start an Instagram or TikTok account and share your ‘secrets’ with your audience.

21. Start A Medical Podcast

Podcasts are also very popular today. Many people listen to them while driving, cleaning, or exercising.

If you have the knowledge to share, do it in a podcast. Before you do, check out what others share and see what void you can fill. There are thousands of podcasts from healthcare professionals, but each covers a different avenue. Think about what your target audience may want and create the podcast to make money.

How to Earn More Cash as A Nurse

In addition to side hustles for nurses, there are ways to make more money at your current job. Like any profession, the more educated you are and the more promotions you apply for, the more money you’ll make.

Here are some great ways to earn more cash as a nurse.

Continue Education

Don’t stop your education at the bare minimum required to do your job. The more educated you are, the more money you’ll be able to make. Check with your employer to see if they offer tuition reimbursement, as many healthcare facilities do.

When you have a higher degree or more education, you can ask for a raise or get a higher-paying job. If your current job doesn’t pay you more once you have the certificate or degree, see what other job opportunities are available to help you make the money you deserve with your newfound education.

Apply for Leadership Positions

Always reach for the stars and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Apply for leadership roles at your current employer or look at other job opportunities outside your current employer. There is always room for advancement in nursing; you just have to set your goals and go for them.

Don’t give up even if you are initially turned down for a position. Get the experience and education required to be a leader and keep applying for jobs.

Networking

Networking will get you everywhere in life. You never know when the person you talk to has connections and can help you get the best side jobs for nurses or a higher position in your full-time job.

Let everyone know what you do and what you’re willing to do, whether you want to work from home nursing jobs or you’re willing to travel. The more you share, the more opportunities that will come your way.

Companies That Hire Nurses to Work From Home

Many of today’s top companies hire nurses to work from home. The list includes insurance companies, home healthcare companies, and companies embracing telehealth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have any questions? Check out the answers to these common nursing job questions below.

How much can you make from a nursing side hustle?

Nursing side hustles can pay as little as $50 to $150+ an hour. It depends on what you do. For example, if you answer medical surveys or work as a medical transcriptionist, your earnings will be on the lower end. But, if you work as a telehealth nurse, a regular nursing job from home, or as a doula, you can make $150+ an hour.

What kind of RN makes the most money?

Urgent care nurses make the most money, with salaries as high as $87,000 annually. Other nurses high on the list are cardiac, orthopedic, neonatal, and emergency room nurses.

Any nurse in a high-stress situation usually makes the most money. Nurses are the backbone of most healthcare facilities and provide the most patient care. It’s a tiring job, but one that is incredibly rewarding too.

Can nurses have two jobs?

Nurses can have two jobs, but it can be pretty exhausting. Most nurses work 40+ hours at their primary job, so managing a second job can be very stressful.

That’s why side jobs for nurses are so beneficial. You can work side hustles for nurses on your own schedule, setting your hours and deciding what you can and can’t do. But, on the other hand, you risk stressing yourself out too much or getting so tired that you can’t handle your day job.

What do nurses do for a second job?

The most common second job for nurses is to take additional hours at their hospital or medical facility. Other nurses take on side jobs, such as home care or immunization nurse. Another good side job is tutoring or working as a health coach if you need a break from the nursing environment.

Can you have a side job as a nurse?

You can have a side job as a nurse, just make sure you don’t burn yourself out. Nurses already work draining schedules, so make sure you only add hours on the days you aren’t already overworked.

Your boss won’t tell you you can’t have a side job, but some might encourage you to pick up extra shifts where you already work rather than diverting your attention elsewhere.

How can nurses make money online?

Nurses have many opportunities to make money online. Blogging, tutoring, selling items in your own store, or creating courses are great ways nurses can make money online. Finding a way to make money online can be a nice break for your mind from your stressful nursing job while still allowing you to make more money.

How can nurses work for themselves?

Nurses can work for themselves by starting their own side gig or business. For example, a nurse can start a blog, traveling nurse service, or doula service. When you don’t work under someone else’s supervision and own the business, you work for yourself.

Make sure you have the credentials to provide the service you’re providing, and you can help people in your society with their healthcare needs. Not everyone goes to the doctor’s office or a hospital for all their healthcare needs. If there’s a void in your area, you can fill it by starting your own business.

What options for passive income are there for nurses?

Nurses can earn passive income by creating digital content and selling it online. This works best with courses, books, or blogs. For example, working as a freelance health writer can be a passive income. If you write a book or helpful guide to help people with their health, you write it once but can sell it as often as people will buy it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *