Facts about RN Self-Employment
Avoid a state of confusion
Dale Carnegie said, “Without the facts, you will stew around in a state of confusion.” This blog post provides a few facts nurses need to know regarding self-employment.
Many different terms are used for the self-employed nurse.
The terms nurse entrepreneur, nurse consultant, independent nurse, self-employed nurse, and nurse independent contractor all simply mean a nurse who is self-employed. Self-employed nurses charge for the professional services they provide, collect the money as income, and pay all applicable state and federal taxes directly to the applicable agency.
Self-employment opportunities are unlimited for a nurse.
As a nurse, your self-employment opportunities are unlimited. As a nurse, you are highly skilled, college educated, and talented. Your new self-employment job may not bear any resemblance to your old nursing job of providing patient care, but it will build on your nursing knowledge and skills.
You can start part-time.
You can start your RN self-employment job part-time and keep your current employment and benefits. When the time is right, you will be ready to move to self-employment if it is for you. In the meantime, you will feel better about yourself, your frustrations will decrease, and you will have freed your creative spirit.
Daydreaming is good.
As president of the National Nurses in Business Association I often suggest to nurses that they make a list of the tasks they enjoyed doing in past jobs and in hobbies. When you look over what you enjoy or are even passionate about, design a job (make it up) that includes the experiences you find rewarding and fulfilling. Develop a detailed job description, including pay scale, work environment, location, and daily tasks. The next step is to match your personalized dream job with those in the real world. You may have to create your job or it may already exist. Talking with me can help you determine if your dream job is a reality in the real world or if you need to create it.
Nurses often sort through many self-employment ideas.
Most nurse entrepreneurs sort through many ideas before they come upon the one that is right for them. The following is a list of roles performed by self-employed nurses.
- Nurses who identify problems, develop workable solutions, and resolve problems for healthcare facilities. Examples of nurses who do this type of work are:
- clinical consultants starting new specialty areas;
- experts at cost-cutting maneuvers;
- auditors and investigators of billing fraud;
- mock surveyors.
- Nurses who offer medical and nursing education to patients, families, healthcare professionals, and healthcare facilities. Examples of nurses who do this type of work are:
- teachers and educators who design and present programs;
- trainers who present pre-designed programs, such as CPR, ACLS, TNCC, etc.
- authors, writers, and small press publishing companies.
- Nurses who design customized care plans and initiate treatment for patients to promote wellness. Examples of nurses who do this type of work are:
- owners of wellness clinics;
- wellness coaches;
- holistic nurses.
- Nurses who offer temporary healthcare staffing service (nursing agency/registry) to healthcare facilities (hospitals, nursing homes, correctional facilities, etc.).
- Nurses who offer temporary companion care staffing services (non-medical, private pay) to patients in their homes.
- Nurses who provide durable medical equipment, medical supplies, and/or medical clothing (uniforms and scrubs).
- Nurses who review the care provided and develop new ways to ensure the patient’s well-being and safety. Examples of nurses who do this type of work are:
- care managers (aging in place);
- case managers;
- patient advocates.
- Nurses who provide an insider’s view on medical issues to legal professionals. Examples of nurses who do this type of work are:
- legal nurse consultants;
- forensic nurses;
- life care planners;
- Medicare set-aside service providers.
- Nurses who bring new products to market.
Clinical nursing options are limited.
Clinical nursing services may be offered, but they are limited because many services need a physician’s order and obtaining payment is difficult. Patients usually expect insurance (private, Medicare, Medicaid) to pay for nursing care. Insurance companies do not typically pay for care provided by an RN.
I’ll include more facts in my post next week.
What is your dream job?
