Working from home is becoming increasingly popular. You may not believe it, but nursing may not be an exception.
Sure, some nurses are always going to be needed to provide outstanding in-person care. But some registered nurses may be able to diversify their careers by taking on some different responsibilities.
Tired of traditional nursing roles? Keep reading to find out how else you can use your nursing degree without leaving the comfort of your home.
Insurance Claims
Working for a health insurance company is certainly going to allow you more flexibility than working in a traditional nursing role. You will also find that your ‘insider’ information will be a great asset in this type of role, making the transition feel smooth and natural.
Understanding the basics of care is essential for a health insurance company. This knowledge allows them to investigate claims and examine the facts to determine what is and is not covered by a policy.
Such knowledge is also useful for calculating how much the insurance company is required to pay out.
All healthcare professionals already have an exemplary level of understanding in this area. Nurses in particular are already incredibly well versed with treatment plans, medical records, and other aspects of care that insurance companies won’t necessarily be aware of.
Your nursing background and degree will allow you to make fully informed decisions that are in the best interests of the healthcare providers and the insurance companies.
Case Management
Case managers are responsible for dealing with long and short-term disability claims for their patients. This role will have you working directly with physicians, employers, and insurance companies to facilitate communication.
Your previous experience dealing with similar matters and medical knowledge will make you highly sought after in this role.
In the most basic terms, your principal goal is to get systems coordinated so that funding for your patient’s treatment is made available. The treatment will aim to get your patient back to work so you are likely to find the role very rewarding.
Most of the work in this role will be done via email and over the phone. This is the ideal setup for an excellent work-from-home opportunity.
Any skilled and experienced nurse who is familiar with the different levels of the healthcare industry is bound to enjoy working in case management.
Health Informatics
Health informatics is at the cutting edge of healthcare, using a combination of technologies to provide patients with the best care possible. It is brand new, exciting, and aims to move the whole of the healthcare system forward by several years.
Working with health informatics will mean that you are working to help find areas of potential innovation between communication, medical procedures, administrative procedures, and technology.
Using your nursing degree will be second nature if you secure a job in health informatics. You will also be at the forefront of innovation, developing and introducing solutions to common problems in the healthcare industry. Who better knows these issues than a nurse?
Your experience as a nurse makes you the perfect candidate for an informaticist as you will be able to provide a unique perspective on a situation or solution. T
his may include helping to develop new software to track patient outcomes or to fill a gap that healthcare providers are aware of.
Because it is a cutting-edge area of development, it is not uncommon for a health informatics employer to require a master’s degree. At the very least you will need a bachelor’s. It is increasingly common that these companies will accept Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) qualifications.
Telephone Triage Nurse
A triage center is a fundamental system in any busy medical facility. Operating a triage service by phone helps limit patient footfall through the door, helping to keep the whole system moving as smoothly as possible.
A telephone triage nurse will speak to prospective patients and take key information. This will include their contact details and a quick but thorough assessment of their symptoms.
From this information, you will then offer your advice as to what their next steps should be. This could include seeking further medical attention at an appropriate facility that you are attached to.
Using a triage system properly will prevent non-emergency patients being seen at an inappropriate time, ensuring that true emergencies are dealt with efficiently. This efficiency is the cornerstone of good patient outcomes.
Because you will be working on the phone, you can perform this essential service just about anywhere. This includes at home.
Your nursing experience in a clinical setting will be incredibly valuable in this role. You will be able to easily and accurately distinguish genuine emergencies that need immediate medical attention from those that can have a routine follow-up with their family doctor.
Interested in this type of work? Don’t think locally and expand your search beyond any local clinics or hospitals. Many big companies – including CVS Pharmacies – hire telephone triage nurses to help their customers get appropriate care.
Call Centre Nurse
In a similar vein to a telephone triage role, a call center nursing role may be more applicable to you if you have limited clinical experience.
This role will have you directing calls to the appropriate departments with no need for lots of background medical knowledge.
Freelance Writer
Writing about anything medical requires a great amount of detailed research in order to get the facts right.
Anyone with a nursing background will have more than enough knowledge to be able to write accurately, concisely, and engagingly about the medical field with no need for in-depth research.
You can write about the medical field for both fiction, non-fiction, and journalistic purposes just about anywhere. This flexibility makes this job ideal for a nurse wanting to shake things up and try working from home.
Final Thoughts
There are a variety of roles that are appropriate for nurses who want to work from home.
Most of these roles will use your experience and knowledge that comes with being a nurse to make the new job easier. Remember that you do not necessarily need to be by a patient’s bedside to make a positive impact on their experience.
Helping to facilitate their administration, helping to get their insurance claims approved, and helping to set up processes to get them back to work are all going to have an incredibly positive impact.
There are also other roles or responsibilities that you could try:
- Nurse educator – online learning is at an all-time high so why not share your expertise with others?
- Legal nurse consultant – law firms need reliable and accurate healthcare information for medical cases all the time
- Nurse recruiters – every nurse knows how important it is to get the right team together. Working as a nurse recruiter will allow you to do just that – create the ideal team to meet patient needs
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