Non-Clinical Nursing Jobs for Nurses Needing a Change

Attending nursing school allows you to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to become a competent and qualified nurse. While providing care and support to patients during their most difficult moments can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling, you’re not limited to just working bedside. No matter the reasons for wanting to switch careers, there are many non-clinical jobs that can allow you to have an impact on the healthcare industry.

And the best thing is that the knowledge, skills, and experience you acquire at nursing school and while practicing as a nurse can also apply to other non-bedside nursing roles. For instance, earning a post masters AGPCNP certificate can prepare you to launch a successful career as a medical researcher. In this article, we’ll look at some of the non-clinical jobs for nurses you should consider, depending on your preferred work setting:

1. Health Writer

As a nurse practitioner, you can use your in-depth medical knowledge and medical terminology to create quality health publications, training manuals, and articles. As a health writer, you can work for health magazines, healthcare corporations, insurance companies, pharmaceutical businesses, journals, and websites. You can write medical articles, newsletters, and informative pamphlets about various health conditions to educate patients.

The advanced medical knowledge and skills you develop in a nursing degree program can help you create well-researched health-related content that’s accurate, informative, and useful for nursing professionals and the general public. Common responsibilities of a health writer include creating content on various health-related topics, conducting research and fact-checking information, and interviewing medical sources. You must also adhere to your client’s instructions regarding appropriate writing tone and style guidelines.

2. Nursing Administrator

Another great non-clinical role you should consider transitioning into is a nursing administrator career. Working as a nursing administrator is a lucrative career that allows you to work in diverse settings, such as physician offices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, and public health organizations. Nursing administration allows you to get into a leadership role in the healthcare sector, managing budgets, hiring and supervising staff, and managing healthcare operations. You are also responsible for setting performance goals, monitoring regulatory and compliance issues, and conducting performance reviews.

As a nursing administrator, you’re also required to utilize your extensive knowledge of the healthcare industry to recommend how best medical facilities can improve their processes and policies. Generally, your goal is to help hospitals and clinics maintain cost-effective, safe, and efficient practices. While you can qualify for a nursing administrator role with a BSN degree, most employers prefer to hire licensed nurses with an MSN degree.

3. Nurse Educator

Another excellent non-clinical job for registered nurses is the nurse educator role. Nurse educators are in high demand due to the high number of students entering nursing school and registered nurses looking to advance their education. As a nurse educator, you can work in training hospitals and academic institutions. Your main role as a nurse educator is to provide nursing students and practicing nurses with the medical knowledge and skills needed to provide quality patient care.

Common responsibilities of nurse educators include creating training manuals, coordinating educational programs, teaching clinical skills and patient care practices, developing curriculum, and mentoring aspiring nurses. To qualify for a nurse educator role, you should have a graduate degree, such as an MSN in nursing education, and extensive clinical experience.

Endnote

There are many reasons why nurses might want to move away from the clinical setting, including burnout, for a change of pace, or to get a chance to sharpen new skills. As a registered nurse, transitioning into one of the above non-clinical roles can allow you to enjoy stable work schedules, less stress, better work-life balance, and greater job satisfaction.