Being a registered nurse doesn’t mean that you need to work in a hospital to practice your profession. There is a rise in demand for digital services in medicine called “Telehealth.“ Telehealth services are a way that hospitals increase their cost-savings efficiency. This new industry also helps people who have difficulties in getting to traditional hospitals. Nurses can join the growing industry of remote practitioner by working from home.
It’s a win-win. Hospitals can save money by offering flexible remote work opportunities, on the flip side, it’s a good alternative for RNs who want to be away from the traditional pressures of clinical bedside environments.
Table of Contents
1. Phone Triage Nurse
Phone triage nurses do the same as they usually do in the hospitals, the only difference is how it is done. Instead of face to face interaction, the nurse will be evaluating and assessing symptoms through the phone or a live video call. The aim of these services is for the patients to manage their own symptoms via the help of the nurse’s diagnosis. To help the patient know what to do, the Phone Triage Nurse can send a store-and-forward video on how to manage a certain symptom. In addition, Phone Triage Nurses will also be responsible to determine whether the patient needs to go to a physical medical institution (as well as helping in doctor appointments).
To become a Phone Triage Nurse, you need to have a strong grasp of medical science. Communication skills are also important in this job because it requires effectively communicating information in delivering the information and instructions for the patient to manage his or her symptoms. Registered nurses are preferred because of their knowledge in taking care of sick patients and their effective communication skills. Typically a Phone Triage Nurse has a median salary of around $68,450 annually.
Requirements for this job:
– Have a BSN or ADN
– Passed NCLEX-RN
– Clinical experience experience
– Stable internet, call equipment (might be reimbursed based on hospital policies)
Hospitals hiring for Phone Triage Nurses:
3. FoneMed
4. Anthem
5. Carenet
2. Online Nurse Educator
Registered nurses can teach or make nursing classes on teaching platforms available on the internet. Instead of a hospital, the usual employer for these jobs is nursing schools, junior colleges, and universities who offer distance-learning options for their students. Nurse educators are in high demand, according to Benedictine University. This job is for registered nurses who want a change in their career and be away from clinical settings for a while.
Nurse educators are also expected to help in designing, implementing, and revising a curriculum for nursing education programs. Because of this, excellent written communication (for explaining topics and concepts in written form) is a must. Most schools require an MSN or RN. The annual median salary of a nurse educator is $69,130 and might vary based on the topic of specialization.
Requirements for this job:
– Master’s of Science in Nursing (requires Ph.D.)
– Passed NCLEX-RN
– Clinical experience related to the subject
– Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) in some states
– Teaching credits
Hospitals hiring for Online Nurse Educator:
2. Pearson
3. Telephonic Case Manager
A Telephonic Case Manager is someone who makes an individualized plan based on a patient’s needs and makes sure that the plan is properly executed. One of the Case Manager’s duty is to make sure that the care services, resources, and additional requirements stated in the individualized plan are properly implemented. In addition, the Case Manager is also tasked to communicate with the client’s family to educate them about the plan. An individualized plan should have proper time frames and expected outcome.
A Case Manager will need to have excellent communication skills because he or she is expected to communicate with a lot of people (client and family, insurance companies, and other professional individuals that are relevant to the plan). Other skills needed for this job is creativity, time management, as well as compiling and reporting data. The average Case Manager salary in Cigna is $68,500. This job is one of the most popular RN online jobs at the moment.
Requirements for this job:
– Registered Nurse
– Clinical experience
– Training in Case Management and a Case Manager Certification
Hospitals hiring for Telephonic Case Manager:
1. Cigna
2. Aetna
4. Anthem
5. Allegiance Benefit Plan Management
6. AMC Health
4. Freelance Nurse Writers
A freelance Nurse writer or a Healthcare Writer is a person who writes articles for medical-related web contents or for publications. A usual task given to a freelance nurse writer is to make an article about a medical term or condition which includes complex processes and terminologies that only someone in the medical field might know. There are also times when a freelance nurse writer needs to break down medical terms or conditions in bite-size information for general audiences. Freelance nurse writers are sometimes tasked to create promotional materials, journal articles, and more.
Being a freelance nurse writer is a job that needs knowledge in areas of nursing and medicine, but the clinical experience might not be required. This is also another job for people who wants to have another commitment or doesn’t want to be in the clinical environment all the time. Research skills and writing skills are required in this job. The annual estimated average salary is based on the assignments, rate, and hours billed.
Requirements for this job:
– At least a minimum of 2:1 undergraduate degree
– Written English Skills
Hospitals hiring for Freelance Nurse Writers:
1. Upwork (Occasional offers are available)
2. ProClinical
5. Work At Home Insurance Claims Specialist
In order to make sure that they will pay the right coverage, insurance companies have to check the billing to make sure they are being charged right. Some insurance companies will hire registered nurses as an insurance claims specialist to review claims and to determine if a claim needs to be covered or not. Responsibilities for this job include making sure the coding being billed is right and to check if there are duplicate charges. If a claim needs to be rejected, the insurance claims specialist will have to provide proper documentation and reasons for rejecting the claim. In addition, the insurance claims specialist would need to make sure that the claim is not fraudulent.
This job needs a clinical experience to make sure that the care being billed and the care is given is the same. Insurance companies would not want to pay a bill for cancer when the actual care given to their client is a basic first aid. A lot of insurance companies would require an extensive direct patient experience, so a registered nurse would have the best chance for this job. According to Nurse.org, an insurance claims specialist has a salary of about $64,000.
Requirements for this job:
– Registered Nurse
– Enough clinical experience
– Knowledge in medical billing
Companies hiring for Insurance Claims Specialist:
1. Allegiance Benefit Plan Management
3. Cigna
5. Aetna
6. Remote Quality Improvement Nurse
A Remote Quality Improvement Nurse is the one who reviews the hospital’s nurse documentation record and makes sure that these documents are accurate and complete. Also, the Quality Improvement Nurse should make sure that other nurses will comply to the set service performance standard and medical record audits of the hospital. Tasks include checking charts to ensure correct diagnoses, review care plans to make ensure compliance with physician orders and to also to assist in training nurses and other staff for policies and procedures that should be followed in the workplace.
This job can be done at home with travel times in between for on-site inspection for the quality of care. Because the main job is to make sure that the quality of the health care service rendered is on par with the hospital policies, a candidate should have a critical focus on details. Interpersonal, verbal, and communication skills are needed in order to coordinate with different departments. As per PayScale, the average salary is about $69,672 annually.
Requirements for this job:
– Registered Nurse
– At least five years of clinical experience
Hospitals hiring for Remote Quality Improvement Nurses:
1. Humana
2. Aetna (Nurse Consultant)
7. Recruiter
Nurse Recruiter’s main task is to find the best talents in the medical industry for various healthcare positions. According to Chron, this job is in demand nowadays because of the rise in the need of the healthcare sector. The Nurse Recruiter will be working with healthcare providers to identify, screen and hire nursing talents. In addition, Nurse Recruiter should also maintain a database of nursing talents, which also requires conducting campus recruitments.
To become a Nurse Recruiter, you should have at least a bachelor’s degree in either human resources, psychology, or health care. A Nurse Recruiter is expected to always present himself or herself well and is able to communicate efficiently in written and spoken form. This job might not be for people who don’t want to travel a lot, as recruitment will demand traveling to meet potential talents. In addition, Nurse Recruiter should know what qualities are needed for a job description. According to Glassdoor, the average national salary of a Nurse Recruiter is $51,349 per year.
Requirements for this job:
– At least a bachelor’s degree in HR, Psychology, or Nursing
– Well-presented with good interpersonal skills
Hospitals hiring for Nurse Recruiters:
1. Proactive Healthcare Recruiters
2. TalentRISE
4. CHI Health
8. Coding Specialist
Also called as a medical coder, the Coding Specialist is the one who documents patient data based on the required coding rules. A Coding Specialist is an expert when it comes to the sets of universal codes used in a lot of organizations, including insurance companies and government agencies. One of the Coding Specialist’s main task is to manage the data of the patients in their codified form, as well as in charge of the medical billing. They should also be updated in the changes in the universal coding classifications and other rules and policies.
Registered Nurses or not, as long as the candidate has a certificate or an associate degree in Medical Coding or another related field would be enough. A keen focus on details is needed in order to avoid inaccuracies. The Coding Specialist will also need organization skills for its data management tasks. The average salary in 2016 according to Chron is $38,040.
Requirements for this job:
– A degree or an associate’s degree related to medical coding
– Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA) are optional but adds good points
– Both savvy in medical and technical terminologies
– Experience in coding (for some hospitals)
Hospitals hiring for RN Coding Specialist:
3. AviaCode
4. iMedX
9. Medical Transcriptionist
Also known as Healthcare Documentation Specialist, the duty of the Medical Transcriptionist is to convert voice recordings from doctors and other medical staff into a written record. Although most of the medical transcriptionist’ task is done manually, there is voice recognition software that helps them in their job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is also a job of a medical transcriptionist to edit medical documents created by these voice recognition software (abbreviations, patient’s data, etc.).
Basic knowledge in grammar and word processing software, as well as at least a postsecondary nondegree award is required for this job. Associate degrees or certificates from distance learning programs about anatomy and medical terminology could improve your chances, but not really mandatory. However, if you want to revamp your career, you can take the exam to become a registered medical transcriptionist (RMT) or a certified medical transcriptionist (CMT). This can be done at home, but most medical institutions would require transcriptionist to work for hospitals or third-party transcription service companies.
Requirements:
– Grammar and word processing proficiency
– Certificates for CMT or RMT for harder types of transcription
10. Online Health Coach
Being a health coach is probably one of the most common side hustles for a registered nurse. The reason for this is because nurses are natural advocates of health. A Health Coach is someone who helps his or her client to change the current lifestyle and replace it with a new one through guidance and management. This usually includes the aspect of nutrition and daily eating habits as well as exercises. This should not be confused with Wellness Coaching, which aims to improve the whole well-being of the client, and not just through lifestyle and physical means.
To become a health coach, you need to get certification in Health Coaching. There are five ways to get a certification, the first one is by joining the National Society of Health Coaches to get the NSHC Certified Health Coach Certification. NSHC certificate is targeted to healthcare professionals who already have background and credentials. Usually, NSHC’s program can be finished in 70 hours.
Requirements:
– Receive health coach training
– Pass the certification exam
Thank you for sharing. After working at my local hospital for years, I transitioned into telephonic nurse case management, and I love that the job is remote! I would definitely recommend this career path for nurses ready to explore new options.