Nursing Side Hustles To Make Extra Money with Your Skills (2024)

If you’re a nurse looking for some additional income, you’re not alone. According to one survey, 50% of American nurses have a side hustle. For many workers, picking up even a small side gig can make a significant difference in their budget and savings, as well as help expand their skills and explore different fields.

Whether you’re looking for extra hours in patient care or hoping to apply your nursing skills to a different line of work, here are some of the best side hustles for registered nurses.

Use these side hustles to put your nursing experience to work—in health care settings and beyond—and earn some extra income:

1. Adjunct nursing instructor

Adjunct nursing teachers lead intro-level classes at nursing colleges—typically on a semester-by-semester basis. To become an adjunct instructor, reach out to local nursing schools or online programs to see if they have any open positions.

2. Camp nurse

If you’re looking for seasonal work that feels very different from a traditional doctor’s office, look no further than camp nursing. Camp nurses serve as on-site medical professionals for all kinds of seasonal gatherings—from recreational summer camps for kids to business retreats for adults—and provide basic medical care for injured or sick campers.

3. Child care worker

Your nursing credentials in life-saving procedures like CPR, first aid, and the Heimlich maneuver make you a standout candidate for babysitting and nannying. Offer your services to friends and family or sign up for organizations like Sittercity and Care.com to advertise to parents in your area.

4. Clinical research nurse

Clinical research trials typically need trained health care professionals to help coordinate between researchers and volunteer patients. As a clinical research nurse, you may recruit and onboard patients, administer treatment, conduct in-person focus groups, collect and organize data, or oversee compliance with local and federal regulations. To get started, talk to other nurses or look for job boards at health care facilities you’ve worked at to see what clinical trials are being done in your area.

5. Consultant

With your experience as a registered nurse, you have valuable insights about best practices in the health care industry and the nursing field. Many teams seek medical expertise to improve their operations—health care organizations, colleges and universities, and even screenwriters on medical-based films and TV shows.

6. CPR/first aid instructor

Many workplaces and organizations require their employees to receive CPR certification or training in first aid. With your clinical experience, you can advertise your services to local businesses, offering to visit and provide lessons and demonstrations in these skills.

7. Health coach

Health coaches work one-on-one with clients to help them set and achieve personal health goals. Being a registered nurse gives you a major advantage as a health coach. You can complete a health coaching certification—available from a number of different organizations—to boost your services even more. When building your practice, you can offer general consulting or specialize in fields like sleep consulting, lactation consulting, fitness coaching, acupuncture, or the birthing process.

8. Health writer

If you have a knack for writing, use your nursing background as a freelance writer for health websites, blogs, journals, magazines, or social media pages. Freelance writing boasts flexible hours and fully remote work, making it a great choice as a side hustle. You can also serve as a subject matter expert—a medical professional who reviews health-related content written by others to verify its accuracy.

9. Home care nurse

Many nursesprovide health care services to patients in the comfort of the patients’ own homes, administering care and assisting with daily life. In-home patient care is especially common among elderly people, people with long-term illnesses, and people with disabilities. You can offer your expertise in particular treatments or conditions to find patients in need.

10. Immunization nurse

Immunization nurses administer routine vaccinations to patients, offering their services part-time in hospitals, clinics, or pharmacies. You can pick up more hours during spikes like flu season, where vaccination spots see significant walk-in traffic. Workplaces and schools may even hire immunization nurses to vaccinate employees and students on-site.

11. Medical transcriber

Many businesses employ transcribers to turn audio or video into written documents. With your nursing education, you are uniquely capable of decoding medical terminology, jargon, and acronyms in health care recordings and medical records. To get started, you can apply to be an in-house medical transcriptionist for a hospital, build a website advertising your services as a freelance transcriber, or apply to a medical transcription firm.

12. Medical survey taker

For an especially flexible schedule that lets you work from the comfort of your couch, consider answering paid medical surveys. Survey websites like ZoomRx and MedSurvey want survey takers with experience as health care providers. Taking surveys allows you to earn a little bit of extra money without leaving home.

13. Per diem nurse

Per diem nurses (meaning “by the day” nurses) are supplemental staff who pick up shifts at hospitals, often on short notice to respond to higher patient traffic. Because the requests are often last minute, per diem nurses typically receive a higher wage than permanent nurses—so it’s a great way to make some extra cash. To become a per diem nurse, talk to fellow nurses and supervisors at hospitals in your area, or register with a per diem staffing agency like NurseFinders.

14. Telehealth nurse

If you want to continue your nursing career from home, try telehealth nursing. Telehealth nurses use video conferencing to assess and assist patients remotely, often working with patients in the health care system who live far from the hospital or who struggle to afford in-person appointments. To become a telehealth nurse, look for telehealth positions at any previous hospitals you’ve worked at, or apply to telehealth-specific positions at online specialty clinics.

15. Tutor

Did you pass your NCLEX-RN with flying colors? Become a nursing tutor to help future nurses prepare for and pass the exam. Advertise your skills at local nursing colleges or online to provide one-on-one or group tutoring services.

Side hustles for nurses FAQ

How can a nurse make extra money on the side?

Several side hustles will put your nursing skills to work. For remote options, look into telehealth nursing or answering medical surveys. If you enjoy teaching, try working as a tutor or adjunct instructor for nursing students. For a break from the familiar nursing environment, check out camp nursing or child care.

How can a nurse work from home and make money?

For low-key work that lets you set your own hours, try answering medical surveys, working as a health writer, or doing medical transcription. For more scheduled nursing work, you can work as a telehealth nurse or online health coach.

Do nurses have transferable skills for side hustles?

The skills that you build in the nursing profession are transferable to side hustles. For instance, your medical training makes you a standout candidate for child care or CPR/first aid instruction, and your excellent communication skills are a great fit for tutoring, teaching, and coaching.

Nursing Side Hustles To Make Extra Money with Your Skills