Does anyone use nurses as a side job?

I am a Medical Coder for a hospital and I see where I can use nursing along with Coding to better opportunities. I do not plan on giving up Coding but get my Nursing degree and maybe work on weekends or in spare time... Does anyone here do the same thing? Pros Cons...

Thanks

You will make a lot more as a nurse. With the amount of time it will take you to become a nurse you will not want it to be second to a lesser degree (if coding even requires a degree, most people that I know that do it don't have one). Maybe you should do coding on the side.

I understand what you are saying but I have been blessed to make over 70,000 the last two years as a Coding Consultant. I hear too many horror stories on this site to give up Coding and do Nursing full time.

Please dont let 'horror stories from this site' taint your view of the nursing profession. If you are truly interested in nursing, and you were to go through school and everything, you would soon see that there are a lot of positives that outweigh the negatives that you see on this site.

I understand what you are saying but I have been blessed to make over 70,000 the last two years as a Coding Consultant. I hear too many horror stories on this site to give up Coding and do Nursing full time.

Well, if you worked three 12hr shifts as a nurse you could still code on the side. Then if one of these horror stories came true for you you would still be up to date on your coding.

My mother works FT in IT at a community college. It pays the same as nursing. But it has awesome benefits, TONS of time off, flexible everything, no holidays, weekends, great retirement package, etc. She would be pretty dumb to give it up to be a FT nurse, IMHO. She works part time as an RN. She gets to enjoy being a nurse, but doesn't have to deal with all of the hassles of being one. (working holidays, weekends, mandatory OT, inflexible scheduling, needing to have vacation time pre-approved, etc.) I think it is a great idea if you have something else you like but would also like to be a nurse.

Nursing is my side job for now. I make more at the factory I am at than I ever would as an LPN. I don't plan on staying in the factory forever (I'm in school now). Eventually I will make more as an RN, I hope, than at the factory!!! I just started a job in a LTC on a PRN basis.

*****

I work full time from home now in medical transcription/editing and I will never give up my 20 years of experience to go into full-time nursing. Each person will have their own opinion on whether you should be in nursing full time, but only you know your situation and don't let anyone sway your decision. My plan is to work 2-3 12-hour shifts a week at my current job and work 2 12-hour shifts per week in nursing. This will allow me to keep my 4 weeks of vacation/year, 401K, etc.

Good luck!

wow you ladies are great thanks for all the info on what to do...

I am a Medical Coder for a hospital and I see where I can use nursing along with Coding to better opportunities. I do not plan on giving up Coding but get my Nursing degree and maybe work on weekends or in spare time... Does anyone here do the same thing? Pros Cons...

Thanks

I am a Health Claims Analyst presently (and for the past 13 yrs for the same company). I work from home for them. As long as I get in 30 hrs between Monday and Sunday, I can work any day I want for as long or as little as I want. I make a nice pay, have good insurance, 401K, I have an insane amount of sick time and vacation time, seniority and they love me (their words, not mine) and pretty much let me do what I want with nothing said from them. I have job security. My company is thrilled that I am back to school finishing up something I started years ago. They are even thinking of working my nursing into the company. They were going to do it prior to me telling them of my going back to school but when they found out I was going back to nursing school they were elated. They know me and my work ethics so they know I am the one they want for the job they are creating.

Before going to school full-time, I was home all the time for both my daughters ages 5 and 14. I was able to be home with my little one during her first 5 years. I don't have to worry about calling in when one of them is home sick or has to come home d/t illness at school, I never miss a play or event during school hours etc.

I have every intention on keeping my job (Health Claims Analyst) and working a few shifts a week when I get my LPN license. I am not making too much less than what I can make as a nurse so why would I quit this job to work weekends, holidays, odd shifts, miss my daughters school events, have to worry about loosing my job if I call out d/t my kid(s) being home from school sick, worry about finding a "babysitter" on the weeks that they have school vacations, driving in the snow and ice, etc?? Once my little one is a bit older and I am not needed 24/7 I'll go more full time w/nursing.

I am not going into nursing for the money. I am going into nursing because I love to help people feel better, both emotionally and physically.

I hear exactly what you are saying and agree w/you 100%. (well except for I am not worried about the horror stories so thats not my reasons for doing nursing as a side job)

I am a Health Claims Analyst presently

This is tangent but could you elaborate on how you got into this work, if it's something that someone with a nursing background could get into and any special qualifications or training or advice in regard to that kind of work? Thanks!

This is tangent but could you elaborate on how you got into this work, if it's something that someone with a nursing background could get into and any special qualifications or training or advice in regard to that kind of work? Thanks!

Well, I had been a CNA for ions and long story short, had a conflict w/administration. I ended up quitting. Another long story short, I couldn't find a job, ended up on State Assistance. Didn't want to be on State so I took out a student load and went to a Business School. At the time it was a Certificate Program. I took a crash course in Anatomy, had a very extensive course in Medical Term, and a bunch of billing and coding classes along with the more extensive analyst courses. I found a job first shot at the company I am with now. Been there ever since. I love the company I work for. (well most days anyway LOL)

Now most insurance companys want their Analysts to have an Assoicates Degree. At one time it was an associates degree in anything, not too sure what it is now. But I think w/an associates degree in something AND being a nurse would be easier for you to enter the field than someone with an associates degree and working retail. Most want you to have some experience with billing and coding since thats mostly what we base our pay/not pay decisions on. ICD-9, CPT etc.

Most insurance companies hire Nurses on as Case Management (pay is better than that of the analyst). Although we do have one nurse at my company that works in a different department other than analyst or case management.

If you were looking for something as a "side job" or to incorportate your nursing degree, I'd say Case Management not analyst.

Hope that helps some.

(sorry to the original poster for hijacking your thread )