Where Can Nurses Work?

Are you considering becoming a nurse and are wondering what your options would be if you did?

Or perhaps you’re an experienced nurse who wants to become an independent nurse contractor?

After all, being your own boss comes with its perks, including flexibility and choosing who you work with. Besides, nurses are in high demand, with the Australian government predicting a shortfall of over 100,000 nurses in Australia by 2025!

When thinking about nursing, many of us picture bedside nursing in hospitals. And sure, hospital bedside nursing is rewarding and fulfilling. But it’s also challenging.

So, if bedside nursing isn’t for you and you’re wondering what other options you have as a registered nurse, you’re in luck.

In this blog post, we’ve listed for you five places you can work as a nurse that aren't hospital-based.

Community Clinics

Community health nurses’ mission is to help maintain patient independence while supporting the patient’s carer. They usually intervene after a hospital stay and can provide:

• Wound management
• Hospital in-home management services
• Palliative care when a patient is affected by a life-limiting illness and needs support at home

Schools

Do you love children and would love to work with them?

Then a nursing job in a school might be the perfect fit!

School nurses’ mission consists in providing care when necessary to both students and staff and responding to any health concern. They can also advise on the best lifestyle choices and provide sports injury care during after-school and Saturday sports. Another responsibility of school nurses is to promote vaccination campaigns and manage immunisations for students and staff.

Correctional Facilities

The number of prisoners in Australian correctional facilities is on the rise, and so is the need for medical care in prisons. The main responsibility of nurses working in correctional facilities is to provide care for incarcerated individuals and staff. One of their responsibilities is to conduct physical and mental assessments when a new prisoner enters the facility. And they also have to care for prisoners with chronic conditions ranging from diabetes and seizures to HIV.

You’ll find more information about the roles and responsibilities of correctional health nurses on the APNA’s website.

Publication Companies

This is often overlooked, but nurses who want a change of scenery and are looking to slow down after working in hospitals or clinics for a long time can become nursing consultants or nursing writers. Their role involves providing scripting assistance for television shows featuring nurses or writing material for educational books or medical research projects.

Working From Home

Yes, with the advent of communication technology, you can now work from home as a registered nurse.

Some of the most common home-based nursing jobs include:

• Nursing case manager: this role will see you designing the best health care plan for patients in collaboration with doctors. You’ll also help organise doctor’s appointments and surgeries. You’ll be working for clinics, hospitals, medical centres, care homes or directly for the patients.
• Nurse blogger: a nurse blogger typically provides digital content to help their audience manage their health and make the right health choices. While it can be hard work to create a brand and establish yourself as an authority in your field, it’s also extremely rewarding. And you can also offer your writing services to healthcare facilities that are always looking for fresh content in their niche.
• Insurance company nurse: this type of gig isn't your typical nursing job but it's in demand nonetheless! An insurance company nursing job will see you evaluating illnesses and providing treatment plans on behalf of insurance companies.

We hope this article gave you plenty of inspiration!

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