How to Earn Money as a Nurse – 17 Proven Ways

In this blog, you’ll discover how to earn money as a nurse. These 17 nursing-specific side hustles that you can do on top of your full-time job. And no, this blog is not going to be telling you to take all those surveys online or donate your plasma, so don’t even think that this blog is about that.

So now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into content.

17 Ways to Earn Money as a Nurse

1. Selling Study Sheets and Templates on Etsy

Now, if you are a nurse, I feel like you probably have heard of this other nurse recently, and her name is Stephanie Begg. She has claimed to have made two million dollars through Etsy selling her study sheets.

Talk about a side hustle—because I mean, if I was making two million dollars through this or through Etsy, I probably would not be working the bedside anymore.This is our first side hustle: selling study sheets, resumes, or cover letter templates. You can sell all of these through Etsy and make a side hustle for yourself.

Selling things can be for nursing students or can be for seasoned nurses as well.

2. Becoming a Nurse Consultant

Number two is: become a nurse consultant.

Many businesses are looking for a nurse’s expertise on their work or projects they are working on, and you can get paid to give your opinion on a topic or even just how something is set up.

Now, if you’re looking for a per diem, part-time, or another full-time job, I would encourage you to go through the leading job platform Incredible Health.

Incredible Health helps experienced nurses land nursing jobs in as little as two weeks. The best part about Incredible Health is that the employer applies to you instead of you applying to the employer.

You create your profile, get your matches, and then get interview requests. With those interview requests, you can then accept them or decline them. And Incredible Health supplies you with a nurse advocate through this entire process—and it’s 100% free for nurses.

3. Becoming a Health Coach

Moving on to number three.

You can work for yourself, or you can work for a company. And you coach people—coach clients or patients—in something that you specialize in.

4. Tutoring or Instructing Student Nurses

Let’s go way back to the beginning. The beginning meaning nursing school. You know it’s up to us to create a strong generation of next nurses, right? Seasoned nurses precept the next generation of nurses.

So why not get paid to do this through tutoring? Or, if you don’t want to tutor, why not become an instructor?

You don’t have to go back to school to be an instructor. At the most recent hospital I worked at, the nursing students that had clinicals there were short on clinical instructors, so they were hiring for nurses to become clinical instructors for their students.

Talk about a side hustle—you get to go to work but not actually take a patient assignment. But you’re on your floor that you normally work, you know the ins and outs of it, but then you also get to precept the next generation of nurses.

That sounds like a great side hustle in my mind.

5. Becoming a Medical Transcriptionist

But if you don’t actually want to deal with people, you can become a medical transcriptionist. All you have to do is listen to audio and then transcribe it into written content.

This is something that’s perfect for parents, and you can do this when your kids go to sleep or if your kids are at school. And if you just don’t want to work with people on your side hustle, this is a great option for you.

6. Private Duty Nursing

And, number 6: I want you to consider door-to-door nursing or private duty nursing. This is where you can work for yourself and not through a company.

My mom actually did this. She did private-duty nursing and worked for herself, not under a company. So consider doing this, especially if you live in a town where there’s an older generation or if you live somewhere where they’re doing a lot of plastic surgeries that people need to stay in that area for a little while.

7. Nursing Assistant

To work as a nursing assistant (CNA), you must first complete a state-approved training program, which usually takes 4 to 12 weeks. After training, you’ll need to pass a certification exam that includes both a written and practical skills test. Once certified, you can apply for jobs in hospitals, nursing homes, or home healthcare settings.

Typical duties include helping patients with daily tasks like bathing, eating, and moving, as well as checking vital signs. CNAs work under the supervision of nurses and play a key role in patient care.

How to make big money with nursing?

Nursing is widely respected for its impact, but many don’t realize it can also be a high-income career. Whether you’re a registered nurse (RN), nurse practitioner (NP), or a nursing student, there are smart ways to maximize your income—often beyond your base salary.

1. Specialize in High-Paying Nursing Fields

2. Work Overtime or Per Diem Shifts

3. Take Travel Nursing Assignments

4. Start a Side Hustle in Healthcare

5. Leverage Telehealth & Remote Nursing Jobs

6. Build a Personal Brand or YouTube Channel

7. Invest Your Nursing Income Wisely

8. Become a Nurse Educator or Coach

9. Open a Nurse Staffing Agency

10. Get Into Legal Nurse Consulting

Conclusion 

So which one of these side hustles interests you the most? Comment down below. I would love to hear what you have to say. And also, if you are working a side hustle that is nursing-related, comment that down below if I did not touch on it here.

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