4 side hustles for nurses: One can pay as much as $431 per hour

Some jobs lend themselves well to a side hustle. Nursing happens to be one of them.

"Every nurse I know knows someone who has a side hustle or has a per diem job in addition to their full-time job," says Helena Faustin, who started a high-paying cooking blog, That Nurse Can Cook, while working as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse in 2018.

That's in part because their schedule lends itself to them.

"Three twelves, four tens are really common schedules for hospital nurses," says side hustle expert Daniella Flores, who goes by they/them pronouns and whose mom used to be a nurse. That is to say nurses often have three days with twelve-hour shifts or four days with ten-hour shifts, leaving them with ample time to pursue a side hustle.

Here are four gigs for nurses to consider.

Outpatient care

Some nurses may elect to do a side gig within their field. They can do this in various locations.

• Outpatient clinics: "They're lower stress," says Flores, adding that "it pays great compared to other nurse side hustles that aren't, like, actual nursing." You can find these kinds of gigs on job boards like nursejobboard.com, jobs.ana.org or nursefern.com for remote work. Nationwide, part-time nurses make $39 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter.

• Pharmacies: Especially during the fall and winter, "nurses can come in and do those seasonal flu shots to help out," says Flores. Pay varies but one New York-based healthcare provider pays $15 per hour for vaccination administrations.

• Care.com: The site connects nurses with seniors who need in-home care or help at senior living communities. As opposed to a hospital setting, "it's so much lower stress,' says Kathy Kristof, CEO and founder of Sidehusl.com, "because you're typically looking after just one person."

Legal consulting

For nurses who want a side hustle that's more removed from their day jobs, consulting is an option. One way to do that is through sites like Expert Institute, where experts weigh in for court cases.

Some cases need the help of medical professionals, and there are three ways consultants can participate: by reviewing case documentation, for deposition appearances and for court testimonies. "They particularly look for nurses," says Kristof of what she's seen on the site.

Nurses can make $208 per hour for reviews, $275 per hour for depositions and $431 per hour for court appearances, according to the site.

Tutoring

Nurses can also help those on their way to entering the field.

"They could help tutor nursing students," says Flores, especially "if they're still part of their alumni association." They can also offer their tutoring services on sites like Wyzant, Varsity Tutors or on specialty groups on sites like Facebook.

One nursing tutor on Wyzant is charging $65 per hour.

Medical writing

Finally, for those nurses who happen to be wordsmiths, medical writing is an option.

There are all sorts of avenues to do medical writing, including patient brochures, textbooks and articles, according to nursefern.com.

The American Medical Writers Association features an array of resources for anyone interested, including a list of medical journals and a job board to find gigs.  

Medical writers make an average of $67 per hour, according to Indeed.

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