7 Jobs your Nursing Degree Makes You a Perfect Candidate for!
As a new working nurse nothing excited me more than jumping right in and helping people in the hospital setting. From as long as I can remember, that’s how it went. Nurses work at the hospital. Even to this day when I tell people I’m a nurse they don’t understand because I don’t work in a hospital.
I’m curious if it was just me or if so many others think the hospital is their only option. My original plan was to graduate from nursing school, work in the hospital, get experience, go back to school for my Master’s of Science in Nursing to become a Nurse Practitioner. Then I became interested in nurse anesthesiology. The more I thought about higher education the more I thought about the extra amount of loans it would require and my reasoning for going back to school was to make more money not spend more. For a minute I thought I was stuck doing bedside but then…
I started hearing people talk about nurses working from home. A patient of mine once told me her sister worked from home monitoring patients. I was really intrigued by the option but never could find these jobs listed online. I gave up for awhile after days literally sitting at my COW searching for jobs online while at work. I knew at that point I was no longer interested in bedside. I’d just returned from a maternity leave and had dreaded going back. So i decided to apply for the nursing pool instead which paid more money and allowed me a more flexible schedule. Once I didn’t get that job (found out it was because my manager was blocking my opportunities to leave the floor) I decided to just put in my two week notice. There were other things that led me to this decision and this just felt like the right time to leave and move on to other endeavors.
About a month later I got an email from my mother related to a telephonic case management position working from home. I was worried I didn’t have the experience but I still applied by referral. I ended up getting in through a staffing agency and later I hired in to the company directly. It was the best transition I could have ever hoped for. Paid holidays off, weekends off, working from home…I really loved it. Leaving the hospital setting and still being able to help patients. I can never see myself going back into the hospital.
Once I got the job in case management I learned about so many other positions my nursing degree made me a good candidate for, that also paid more and had a much more flexible schedule. It was crazy to me that I’d hadn’t heard about these sooner. Most likely from my lack of research and networking.
If you’re a nurse looking to get out of bedside and don’t think you have any other options….you do. There are so many other options available for nurses. Here are a few I’ve come across:
Care Managers
High Cost Claims Nurse
Medical Coding (this does require a coding certificate)
Utilization Management Nurse
Home Care Nursing
Clinical Account Manager
Medical Device Sales
Networking is the key. You may not always see these jobs posted. Build relationships with other nurses, join nursing platforms on social media, use keywords other than “nurse” like “healthcare”, “medical”, etc. I hope you all find what you’re looking for and that it’s the best fit for YOU.
What non-bedside jobs did you all find that worked for you?