3 Alternative Nursing Jobs to Consider
Are you considering studying nursing? Good choice. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing profession’s growing at a rate of 7% every year.
What’s more, nursing’s one of the most diverse careers around and it doesn’t always involve long hours and risky work. There are nurses involved in research, remote nursing jobs, online nursing jobs, and many other positions that don’t involve direct contact with patients.
So, if you want to achieve your registered nurse qualification, you could also consider one of these alternative nursing jobs.
- Legal Nurse Consultant Jobs
Legal nurse consultants assist attorneys during litigation. Their daily grind can include testifying in court during cases involving medical malpractice, personal injury claims, and insurance fraud.
Their tasks entail:
- Evaluating medical insurance and health care claims
- Conducting research
- Selecting expert witnesses in medicine
- Making recommendations
Since you only go into the office when needed, this is one of the only work-from-home nursing jobs around.
You’ll need to accumulate as much clinical experience as possible if you want to apply for any of these positions.
- Travel Nursing Jobs
These kinds of jobs involve using your qualifications to see the world. They came about during the 1980s nationwide nursing shortage. At this time, hospitals offered lucrative pay packages to attract nurses to their area.
Today, travel nursing’s evolved to become a kind of freelance nursing position where qualified and experienced nurses take jobs at hospitals during shortages.
It’s an excellent way to explore new horizons and experience new places, but there’s a lot of competition for the best travel nursing jobs. So, if you’re searching for a career in this field, you may need to keep looking for a while before you find something that appeals to you.
- Nurse Educator
As the demand for nurses grows, so does the call for qualified people to train them. With around a third of the current nurses involved in teaching set to retire in 2025, demand for educators is reaching fever-pitch.
Many nurses end up in this career after completing a few years of more advanced studies. Experience is a major criterion for this position, but you’ll need a master’s degree or doctorate to command a high salary.
Some nurse educators even go on to specialize in specific areas, like informatics, pediatric nursing, or geriatric nursing.
This is a highly rewarding career that allows you to share your knowledge and help create the next generations of well-trained, capable nurses.
Educators with experience in nursing are highly sought-after in this field as they’re able to pass on practical first-hand information about what nursing’s like.
Finding Your Perfect Career
Whether you opt for conventional nursing jobs or one of these more unusual health care careers, a nursing qualification opens many doors for you.
Associate degree programs only take two years, but you can continue your studies for up to eight years if you’re interested in nurse practitioner jobs. You can also continue studying while working, so you’ll gain valuable experience and earn some money along the way.
Would you like some more tips on finding the best career options for you? Keep exploring our website.