Career Changes for Nurses

Average Base Pay: $73,148/yr When you are changing your career from nursing, becoming a physical therapist is a great choice for nurses who are looking for flexible work schedules. Physical therapists can start their own practices and schedule their hours with more flexibility than nurses. The role of a physical therapist is to diagnose and treat people who have medical conditions limiting their ability to move. As a physical therapist, you will need knowledge of kinesiology and human anatomy, some education you may already have as a former nurse.

Average Base Pay: $40,881/yr A career like physical therapists is becoming a certified massage therapist. Certified massage therapists become certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). Many require massage therapists to be licensed with state registration, state certification or state license. Government entities such as cities, counties or other local governments may require regulation. Like physical therapists, massage therapists help people regain their ability to move and relieve pain. The benefits of being a massage therapist are like what physical therapists have with schedule and client flexibility.

Average Base Pay: $33,716/yr A change in career for nurses that involves staying in a hospital or clinic setting is a medical records clerk career. Medical records clerks work in hospitals or clinics to organize patient records and keep these records private. Nurse skills are ideal for this role because knowledge of medical terminology, patient privacy, and organizational skills are critical to keeping records organized and confidential.

Average Base Pay: $23,602/yr Medical transcriptionist roles are ideal for nurses who want to work from home. A medical transcriptionist operates word processing, dictation, and transcription equipment to put into written form dictated audio. Receiving, organizing, and storing materials such as lab orders, requisitions, and clinical data are requirements. They use software applications to review and edit transcribed reports and dictated material. Medical transcriptionists need to have excellent grammar, spelling, and knowledge of correct medical terminology. They identify mistakes in reports and communicate with doctors to obtain correct information. Time management is essential for this role to prioritize reports.

Average Base Pay: $44,980/yr A nurse switching careers from nursing who wants to remain in administrative work should consider an administrative manager career. Like a medical records keeper, an administrative manager is a support position. However, an administrative manager has more supervisory duties than a medical records keeper. Administrative managers oversee administrative and clerical staff work for schedules, manage databases for payroll and personnel, and create reports among other clerical duties.  Administrative managers also help manage nurses and other medical staff.

Average Base Pay: $30,875/yr Patient account representatives work more directly with patients than medical records keepers or administrative managers. The role of a patient account representatives is to work with insurance companies, patients, and health service providers to coordinate patient care. Patient account representatives interview clients to understand their needs, review patient records, and help patients reconcile issues with health insurance companies and health organizations.

Average Base Pay: $36,016/yr Case managers have similar jobs to patient account representatives. However, case managers are direct liaisons between hospitals, clinics, healthcare providers, and patients. A case manager’s job is to work with patients to develop a plan of care with a patient and/or the patient’s family. Case managers have several responsibilities in their work with patients. A case manager reviews patient records related to patient medical treatment or previous medical treatment, interviews patients and/or their families, and helps to create individualized goals for patient outcomes. These goals may include treatment plans in coordination with the patient’s healthcare providers or applying for financial aid with the help of a case manager. Finding external resources such as housing or food are roles sometimes associated with being a case manager.

Average Base Pay: $72,657/yr Nurses who change careers may want to consider working as medical writers. Medical writers offer either writing or ghostwriting (writing without a byline) services. A medical writer can write textbooks, health website content such as blogs, advertising materials for companies, or product reviews. While freelance work as a medical writer gives you flexible schedules and the ability to work from home, being a freelance medical writer means marketing your skills to get clients. Job security depends on the number of clients you can find and retain.

Average Base Pay: $125,845/yr A pharmacist career is an alternative career if you want to return to school for a degree in pharmacy. Pharmacists dispense or supervise dispensing of medication according to physician orders. A pharmacist works as a manager with overseeing ordering medications and refills. They review prescriptions for accuracy and check for drug interactions. Pharmacists who work in compounding pharmacies compound medications. Collaborating with other healthcare professionals, they monitor, plan, evaluate, and review medicine effectiveness. Counseling patients about appropriate use of their medicine is part of the pharmacist’s role. Pharmacists educate both patients and staff about drug therapies. A pharmacist must keep her or his knowledge of local, state, and federal regulations current.

Average Base Pay: $51,291/yr Nutrition is a popular field for nurses who want different careers. Nutritionists advise people about food and the effect of food and diet on health. They create personalized diet plans for their clients. A background in Dietetics is necessary if you want to work in a hospital or clinical setting. Certificate programs can help you become a nutritionist.

Average Base Pay: $77,368 / yr Corporate wellness consultants help corporate clients improve their health and lifestyles. A corporate wellness consultant helps clients reach health goals with programs such as weight management, fitness related programs, and managing staff.

Average Base Pay: $64,037/yr Pharmaceutical sales representatives promote products like prescription drugs, medicines, and medical devices.  Customers include physicians, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. Your responsibilities can include managing existing accounts, taking orders, and setting up new accounts. Sales presentations, market research, and social media are part of a pharmaceutical sales representative’s work.

Average Base Pay: $104,677/yr Teaching others about your skills and experience is an asset in healthcare. Nurses are often educating patients and their peers during their work. A nursing educator role is a natural career change for nurses. Becoming a nursing educator requires keeping up with your license and with current medical innovations.

Average Base Pay: $49,450/yr Switching from a nursing career to a social worker career can give you the same satisfaction about helping people. However, being a social worker is not a career for those wanting freer time or a less stressful job.

Average Base Pay: $77,804/yr Nurse lobbyists speak to elected officials about sponsoring and supporting bills that involve the healthcare industry, advocating for patients’ rights, pay for healthcare professionals, and safe working environments for nurses and other healthcare workers.

Average Base Pay: $51,395/yr A grant writer writes grant proposals to obtain financial help for organizations.  Some characteristics of a grant writer apply to the skills of nurses. Some grant writer skills include excellent communication skills, research skills, and organizational skills.

Average Base Pay: $40,113/yr Nurses with administrative experience can thrive as insurance sales agents. Explaining to clients the benefits of various insurance packages is similar to being a patient account representative.

Average Base Pay: $46,764/yr A health coach career is similar to corporate wellness consultants with advising on fitness and diet. The difference is you will not always be working for a company, but with different clients who seek your services.

Average Base Pay: $72,245/yr Motivational speaker roles are similar to health coaches and corporate wellness professionals. Motivational speakers believe people can attain their goals in life and feel better if someone motivates them. Nurses are ideal for this role because their skills are to be dedicated to and care deeply about others.

Average Base Pay: $61,172/yr Speech language pathologists, also called speech language therapists, evaluate, diagnose, and treat language, speech, swallowing, voice, and cognitive-communication disorders. They work with healthcare workers to diagnose and treat autism spectrum disorders.