Burnout is extremely common in the health care profession.
There’s the compassion-exhaustion effect because health care professionals are expected to work long shifts. Also, you can’t disregard the poor benefits and little pay that most health care workers receive. All those things easily add to the already heavy pressure of their back-breaking and emotionally draining job.
Managing finances can make things more stressful for health care professionals if they have debts and loans to pay.
If you’re a health care worker, you may be thinking of ways to earn extra money to pay off loans or create your emergency fund. Check some of them below:
- Render Overtime
It’s the easiest way for health care professionals to earn extra money. They can do it without venturing into an endeavor outside their jobs. You only have to let your supervisor know that you’re willing to work overtime if there’s insufficient staffing in your area. Some hospitals already use web-based staffing management systems. Just sign up for extra shifts and fill those areas for OT demands. Rendering overtime is one simple way to boost your salary.
- Become A Medical Transcriptionist
There are plenty of second jobs for nurses and other health care workers. One of them is being a medical transcriptionist. What a medical transcriptionist does is to listen to recorded medical reports and transcribe those voice recordings into written reports. If you’re a nurse and want to start working from home, especially during your days off, this is one ideal job for you.
Health care workers will have to become certified to qualify for this job. Getting certified is easy as there are online courses available. There are lots of opportunities awaiting medical transcriptionists, making it an excellent way to earn extra money. You can work from anywhere and do the job part-time as long as you have reliable Internet access and a computer. This job gives you the chance to work from home, which many people want to enjoy nowadays.
- Take On Medical Coding Tasks
This is another second job that health care professionals can try to earn some extra cash.
Medical coding is critical work as you’ll need to put the proper codes for medical billing to help insurance companies process the insurance claims of their patients properly. The job entails classifying medical diagnoses and listing the corresponding medical billing codes.
Just like with working as a medical transcriptionist, you’ll also need to undergo certification to qualify for medical coding jobs. Becoming a medical coder gives you the option to work from the comfort of your home, too.
- Teach Patients How To Properly Use Medical Equipment At Home
Depending on their ailments, some patients may be required to utilize certain medical equipment at home. It may present a huge challenge since they’re not medical personnel. Start offering tutorial services to these patients and help them get acquainted with their medical equipment. You can teach them online or visit them at their homes at your own timing. Your tutorial could focus on blood sugar machines, blood pressure readers, how to apply insulin injection, etc. Medical equipment maintenance lessons should also be part of your tutorial service.
- Start A Health Blog
One way for health care workers to earn extra money is to start a blog. It may sound cliché, but it certainly allows you to make good money while still being able to take care of other interests. It’s essential that there’s someone on the web from whom people can seek reliable advice. The problem is that there aren’t enough health care workers blogging about health issues.
As a health professional, you can start a personal blog that contains what you’ve learned in school or on your job. Of course, you’d be able to answer some questions professionally because of your qualification. Just make sure to provide facts at all times. If readers know and realize that you’re a professional, you would soon enjoy a lot of blog traffic and start monetizing your site.
- Become A Health/Medical Writer
If you think that starting your own health blog isn’t for you, but still want to write and inform others about common health issues, becoming a health/medical writer is your best bet. You can be successful in this field if you find writing as a hobby, and you’re really good at putting words together.
To kick off a health/medical writing business from home, all you need is to contact and register with freelancing websites. Compared to general topic writers, health/medical writers can usually charge higher because they’re writing about professional topics. Writing about medicine and health for other websites can even help you live comfortably if your outputs are good, and you start getting steady gigs.
- Sell Your Unused Stuff
People have extra things laying around at home that can be sold. Health care workers aren’t an exception. You can make money by selling unused items. You can also search for things that you can buy and resell for a profit.
Here are several ways you can start selling your unused valuables:
Digital Options
The following online selling platforms are worth considering depending on your preferred sales model and the amount of effort you’re prepared to give.
- Craigslist – Out of all the major online selling options, Craigslist is the scrappiest. However, it’s disorganized nature also presents its major perk–enticing profit potential. The higher profit potential is due to the lack of fees when listing or selling some items. Of course, selling on this platform also comes with disadvantages, including higher chances of nonpayment and potential safety risks. Use the buddy system and keep your wits about you if you do choose Craigslist for selling your unused possessions.
- Amazon – This platform is a haven for people cleaning out their garages and attics. Consider registering as a professional third-party seller if your plan is to sell more than 40 items each month.
With Amazon, there’s no per-item selling fee. However, you’ll need to pay around $40 monthly subscription fee and a referral fee ranging from 6% to 20%. Also, for media items, there’s a per-item closing cost.
Another option is to register as an individual seller. There’s no difference when it comes to the fee schedule except that you don’t have to pay for the subscription fee and do have to pay for the selling fee.
- eBay – If you have unwanted items, this platform is an excellent way to attract many potential buyers fast. The website is a venue for fixed-price sales by professional merchants. Most of the items on eBay are also heavily discounted, making it the go-to site for individuals who like to shop online. What started as an auction site designed for DIY sellers is now one of the most popular selling websites in the world.
Sellers can likely cut through the noise on this website as long as they include thorough descriptions and high-quality photographs. Expect to lose 10% of the final selling price of your item to the site’s commission — that’s eBay’s general rule. Among the digital selling platforms mentioned here, eBay has the most complex fee schedule, so it’s best to check out their website before using their services.
Hold A Garage Or Yard Sale
Sell whatever items you don’t want or can’t offload online at a yard or garage sale instead. It’s the old-fashioned way of selling items, but it certainly does the job.
To do this successfully, follow these tips:
- Make Sure You’re Legal – Make sure it’s legal to set up a garage sale in your community before doing so. Chances are you’ll need a permit. Note that getting one usually entails a substantial financial investment.
- Put Up Signs – It’s essential to put up signs in visible locations around your neighborhood to direct people to your address. Never assume that each prospective buyer will use a navigation app to locate your place. Ideally, put up the signs on various street corners near your home and main roads.
- Do Paid Focus Groups And Online Surveys
If you have enough spare time during your days off, focus groups and online surveys can be a good way to earn extra cash. In the beginning, you’ll have to do online legwork by signing up with as many survey sites as you can.
Since you’re a health care worker, you can target surveys or focus groups that have something to do with your expertise or profession. Choose websites that focus on health care research, which usually seek input from health care professionals.
You pay nothing upfront when joining survey sites, so they’re worth a shot, not to mention the many people who claimed of making a nice supplemental income this way.
Popular survey sites include the following:
- Swagbucks – The points you’ll earn from this website can be redeemed in the form of cash or as gift cards.
- Opinion Outpost – This website can earn you between one and five dollars for each survey.
- InboxDollars – You’ll receive a signup bonus of $5 immediately after registration.
- SurveyJunkie – Users can earn up to $9 per one survey done.
- MyPoints – A signup reward of $10 is waiting for you once you join the platform.
- Develop An Online Course
Subject matter experts, like health care professionals, are needed in each field that’s taught online. Online education is growing, and tech-savvy health care workers with teaching experience may either work in developing virtual health care courses for distance education or as a health care instructor for online colleges and universities.
Conclusion
If you thought health care professionals couldn’t find fantastic opportunities to make extra money, then, you’re completely mistaken. There are numerous gigs they can do to earn despite their tight schedules. Whether it’s taking on a second job, starting a blog, online selling, or offering an online course, the ways to earn extra money discussed above can bring positive changes to a health care worker’s financial status.