Best Side Hustles For Nurses - 10 Ideas To Create Some Extra Income

The cost of living, the world over, has increased, and most of us today are feeling the pinch. Just looking at the U.S. we see that  The cost of living in America has climbed 14% over the last 3 years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.

That’s sobering!  But it doesn’t end there.  “The IMF has lowered its forecast for global growth to 3.3% in 2019, down from the 3.7% it had predicted in October (and down from the 3.5% it recorded in 2018)”.

The rise we are seeing in the cost of living combined with the downturn in the economy shows us that now as never before there’s an urgency to start generating some extra streams of income.

If you hope to increase your standard of living and keep ahead of the economic downturn then now is the time to act.

The exciting thing is that as a nurse there are so many wonderful and exciting avenues through which you can pursue a side hustle.  So read on for 10 of the best side hustles for nurses!

Affiliate marketing is the best place to start, particularly when you consider that the Affiliate Marketing industry is projected to increase annually by a total of 10.1% between 2015 and 2020, to become an estimated $6.8 billion industry.

Before we dive in and take a deeper look at affiliate marketing, let’s first establish what affiliate marketing is.

Affiliate marketing is when you sign up with an online company as an affiliate. You promote their product and refer customers to them.  For every purchase the customer makes, you receive a commission.

It’s a great way to generate a passive income while working a regular job.

An example of an affiliate program you could promote within the nursing niche is the Nurse Entrepreneur Network.

The Nurse Entrepreneur Network is focused on helping nurses set up their own businesses.  The platform offers tools, training and provides a network to provide all the support needed to generate your own income as a nurse.

They also offer an affiliate program whereby you can earn commissions from recommending people to them.

For every person you recommend who buys a membership, you can earn up to 40% commission.  When customers you refer buy from them you can also earn as much as 40% in commission.

Let’s take a look now at the advantages and disadvantages of affiliate marketing:

• Affiliate marketing is performance-based and as such you will need self-discipline. Since you are working independently you will need to set goals and a timetable to achieve them in order to make progress. It may be helpful to find someone you can be accountable to help you stick to your goals.
• An affiliate marketing business is not something you will build overnight – be prepared to be in it for the long-haul. It will take time to build your online business and start earning a real income from it. Be patient, committed and stick to it – ultimately it will yield rewards.
• Learn as much as you can about affiliate marketing – you can find a list of highly recommended affiliate marketing courses here.

Amazon, the largest online store is definitely an option not to be missed.  Amazon generated $232.9 billion in 2018 with a net income growth of 30.9%.

So we know that Amazon is the largest online shopping platform with a vast array of products for sale but what exactly is Amazon FBA and how does it work?

Amazon provides sellers with the option of selling through their platform and then leaving all shipping details and customer liaison to Amazon.

Here’s how it works.  You sign up with Amazon for the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) option.  You send your inventory to Amazon to be stored in their warehouse.  When a customer orders your product Amazon takes complete the process of packaging, shipping the item and providing 24/7 customer care.  All this is provided by Amazon for a fee but it makes your life so much easier.

You may be wondering how to know what type of product to sell via Amazon FBA.  By looking at Amazon’s bestseller list in your category you will be able to get some idea of what people are looking for and buying.

An example of something you could sell is the First Aid Only 299 Piece all-purpose first aid kit.  You will see it ranks in the top products of this best-seller list.

By looking at Amazon’s bestseller lists you getting a pretty accurate picture of what types of products will sell because it’s based directly on sales.

What then are the advantages and disadvantages of selling via Amazon FBA?

• Familiarize yourself carefully with Amazon’s guidelines on how to package your products. They enforce these guidelines strictly so make sure you comply with them. Pay careful attention to correctly entering them into Amazon’s database, ensure they are properly labeled and shipped to the correct warehouses.
• It can be tricky keeping track of your inventory as products sell. Consider using the ByteStand app which can help manage your inventory in conjunction with Amazon.
• To get a good understanding of how to sell on Amazon, it is recommended that you learn how to run an Amazon FBA business. To help you to get started, we have created a list of the best Amazon FBA courses so that you don’t waste time and money learning everything on your own.

Since nurses work in shifts you are in the perfect position of working part-time on your off-days.  A terrific option to consider is providing first aid training.

According to the First Aid Training – National Safety Council every 5 years guidelines for first-aid and basic life support techniques are updated according to the latest medical research.

This provides a super niche that you can fill through providing up-to-date first-aid skills.

You could network with your local schools and explore options of presenting the course to students from the schools for a fee.  Another option would be to network with agencies offering Au-pair training to offer your course to their students.

Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of presenting your own first aid course:

• Get certified to become a first aid instructor. Consider a training course from places like the American Heart Association (AHA) or the American Red Cross.
• Draw on your nursing experience and medical knowledge to shape your class so that it includes the critical components needed for life-saving without overloading people with info.

Nursing is a profession that often sees a shortage of nurses. When you consider that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018) predicts that 1.1 million additional nurses will be needed by 2020 to avoid a further shortage you can see that there is a dire need to train more nurses.

This is where you can possibly come in and help provide that training as an instructor at Nursing school.

Let’s take a closer look at what a nursing instructor does.  A nursing instructor prepares students for a career in nursing.  They use their real-life nursing experience in combination with the teaching material to help train nurses.

Nurse instructors prepare the lectures to be presented to the students and grade exams.

They work in several different facilities including colleges, nursing vocational schools and similar.

Nursing instructors are able to teach in the following programs:

• 2 year or 4-year diploma
• Associate degree
• Bachelor’s degree program in nursing

Which one of these you will eligible to teach depends on your educational level and your professional background.  To consider this option you need to have many years of education and training behind you.

To work in clinical practice education the basic requirement you will need is a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN).  However, some schools may accept a Master of Nursing (MSN) if you have enough clinical experience.

In addition to this, you are also required to log a certain number of  hours of clinical practice in your area of specialty.

These numbers of hours vary from school to school so it’s best to check the specific requirements of the school you are hoping to teach at.

In addition to meeting the state licensing that will be needed, you will also need the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential.  This you can obtain from The National League for Nursing.

There is scope within this option of being a nurse instructor to teach everything from entry-level health careers to more advanced courses.  Match your qualifications and experience with the option that suits you best.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a nurse instructor?

• Decide at which institution you want to teach and then check with them what their specific requirements are. It differs from institution to institution and from state to state.
• Bear in mind that you will need strong leadership and communication skills for this type of side hustle. Consider investing in a short course to strengthen these skills.

Amazon we know is the largest online store.  They are also “by far the largest U.S. book retailer with 560 million e-book unit sales”.  Kindle publishing then is definitely an avenue to consider for a side hustle.

Kindle publishing involves self-publishing your own book on Amazon.  It’s free and you are able to start making money within 24 hours.  Anyone can self-publish and sell on Amazon.

An example of a book you can publish through Amazon Kindle is a First Aid manual.  As mentioned earlier, you can do a side hustle teaching first aid classes, but why not take that one step further and develop it into a first aid manual aimed at the average person?

All too often books are written on first aid with so much jargon and in such a complex manner that it can be difficult for the average person to learn what they need to know.

By providing a simple, yet clear first aid manual in easy-to-understand language you can provide what most people are looking for.

Let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of Kindle publishing:

• Do a little research of your intended book niche by checking out the competition. Check if there are similar books to yours, how you can give your book a competitive edge and if there are enough buyers. You can do this by going to Amazon.com and clicking on the bestseller list in the category you have chosen for your book title. This will give you the best indication of whether your intended niche for your book is viable or not.
• The way you package your book matters! It needs to look appealing to catch people’s attention. Make it a priority to have your cover designed professionally. Also, bear in mind it’s important to give attention to Amazon’s requirements for how your ebook must be formatted and adhere to them.

This is a good option for a side-hustle because it’s seasonal work that usually starts around September.

“For the 2018-2019 season, manufacturers have projected they will provide as many as 163-168 million doses of influenza vaccine for the U.S. market.” And they will need nurses to help administer all these flu shots to people.  That’s where you come in!

An example of a place where you can search for seasonal work giving the flu shot is simplified.com.  You can also enquire about local clinics in your area.

As mentioned your job would involve administering the flu shot to people.  You can earn good money from this – between $25 – $40 per hour.  You can also choose how many hours you want to work and book them according to your schedule.

Let’s take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of this side hustle:

• Bear in mind that you may be required to travel as part of your contract and this may not be paid travel time. Check with your employer beforehand whether your travel time is paid for or not.
• Be prepared that this is a fast-paced job and you will need experience dealing with kids too.
• The daily schedule may change so you need to be prepared to be adaptable and go with the flow.

Medical transcription is another side hustle for you to consider.  When you take into account that “the global market for Medical Transcription (MT) services is projected to reach US$70 billion by 2024”, you realize that is definitely something to weigh up and consider.

Being a medical transcriptionist involves listening to voice recordings from Doctors and other healthcare professionals and typing it up.

Being a nurse and having a medical background will be a great advantage with this side hustle because you will need to interpret medical abbreviations and understand medical terminology.  You will also be required to edit documents.

An example of a company you could work for as a part-time medical transcriptionist is TranscribeMe.  You can earn up to $20 per audio hour.  You receive regular payouts from them and a steady stream of work.

Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of being a medical transcriptionist:

• You will need some software to do medical transcription. The following will be needed: Word processing software, software to play the audio, a foot pedal, a medical dictionary, and a good quality headset.
• You will require some training to be considered for medical transcription – Career Step is an online school that can provide this and well worth looking into.

This is another great option to look at, especially when you consider that  “health coaching is a $6 billion service market” and it’s showing no sign of slowing down”.

A health coach consults with clients to assess their personal health and wellbeing and then helps them develop strategies and a customized plan to address their health or weight issues.

Health coaches cover everything from diet, supplements, exercise routines and everything in between.  As a nurse, already focused on health and working in the industry, you are well set for this side hustle.

As a health coach, you can expect to earn between $17 – $25 per hour.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a health coach?

• You will need certification to become a health coach. The National Society of Health Coaches (NSHC) offers a certification program called Certified Health Coach (CHC).
• Have a cancellation policy in place so clients know what’s expected of them in terms of canceling and what payments they will be responsible for.

As a trained nurse this side hustle is a great fit for you! According to Forbes “An estimated 117 million Americans will need the assistance of some kind by 2020”.  There’s definitely a gap here for a side hustle.

As a part-time caregiver, you will have private patients whom you care for in their own homes or you could work at an Old Age Home.

You will be responsible for taking care of people who are sick, injured or elderly.  Aside from taking care of their basic grooming needs and health needs you will also assist them with Doctor appointments and possibly even help organize transportation for them.

According to Indeed.com the average salary for a caregiver is $12.10 per hour but your payments may vary based on who you work for.

Eldercare.com is an example of a company you can use to find work as a part-time carer.

Let’s take a look now at the advantages and disadvantages of doing carer work.

• It’s critical that you look after your own health and wellbeing if you are a carer. Focus on getting a good balance in your life with time to rest and recharge.
• There are different types of home carers and as a Nursing carer being a registered nurse (RN) or LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) should be sufficient but be sure to check what the requirements are.

As a trained nurse this side hustle is a great fit for you! According to Forbes “An estimated 117 million Americans will need the assistance of some kind by 2020”.  There’s definitely a gap here for a side hustle.

As a part-time caregiver, you will have private patients whom you care for in their own homes or you could work at an Old Age Home.

You will be responsible for taking care of people who are sick, injured or elderly.  Aside from taking care of their basic grooming needs and health needs you will also assist them with Doctor appointments and possibly even help organize transportation for them.

According to Indeed.com the average salary for a caregiver is $12.10 per hour but your payments may vary based on who you work for.

Eldercare.com is an example of a company you can use to find work as a part-time carer.

Let’s take a look now at the advantages and disadvantages of doing carer work.

• It’s critical that you look after your own health and wellbeing if you are a carer. Focus on getting a good balance in your life with time to rest and recharge.
• There are different types of home carers and as a Nursing carer being a registered nurse (RN) or LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) should be sufficient but be sure to check what the requirements are.

And finally, consider working in telehealth as a side hustle option. When you consider that “The U.S. Telehealth market is expected to reach revenues of over $13 billion by 2023” you can see that it’s well worth looking at.

Telehealth nursing involves consulting with patients and giving care to them over the phone or via the internet using a webcam.

Depending on who you work for, you can potentially earn between $22 – $38 per hour.

Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of being a telehealth nurse:

• You will need a nursing degree or diploma, nursing license, and excellent computer and communication skills to become a telehealth nurse.
• You will need to have the ability to think on your feet and work under pressure while remaining calm while you listen to your patient. You will also need to be empathetic. Consider these attributes to see if this is the right fit for a side hustle for you.

So there you have it! Nurses have a tremendous amount of side hustle options.  Consider the various options and start the journey of embarking on your very own side-hustle.