Nurses have a variety of career options to choose from, and many don’t involve hospitals at all.
Nurses aren’t confined to just hospital jobs, especially those who have graduated from a RN-BSN program. From more hands on clinical roles to educational or legal careers, there are many non-hospital nursing jobs that allow nurses to make a positive difference.
Legal consultant
Working as a legal nursing consultant can be a high paying job for nurses. These positions are expected to provide medical insight to court hearings and help attorneys build cases around factors such as medical histories, patient charts, or medical verbiage. Court cases involving malpractice often call upon nursing consultants.
Three: Teacher
Many nurses may opt to work as nursing teachers or educators later in their careers. This job can be incredibly rewarding, nursing teachers help prepare the next generation of nurses. These types of positions usually operate at colleges or nursing schools.
Public nurse
Working in the public health sector allows nurses to treat patients outside of a hospital. These nurses can work at public schools, government buildings, or volunteer operations. While many nurses dream of working at hospitals like The Orthopedic Institute at JFK Medical Center, these types of positions prove non-hospital jobs can also make a difference.
Nurse coach
Nurses with a flair for motivational tactics may want to consider working as a nurse coach. These positions can be contracted out by companies for their employees, or health insurance companies, to help an individual meet their health or rehabilitation goals. These nurses often work with patients suffering from a chronic illness.
Academic writer
Nurses can also work as academic writers for nursing materials including instructional documents, textbooks, patient guidelines, or training manuals. Many nurses are now writing online as well for healthcare and insurance websites. Nursing writers may be hired by companies or work as freelancers.
While most people imagine helping patients in a hospital when they envision a career in nursing, that isn’t necessarily the case. Registered nurses have many, many career options to choose from, and many can be just as satisfying, if not more, than working in a hospital. Some nurses will work across a variety of jobs throughout the length of their career.
