Nursing is a very different job from what it used to be. In the past, nurses were expected to turn up to a clinic or a hospital and provide services to patients. But in today’s high-tech world, that’s no longer true.
Granted, there is still physical work to be done. Nurses need to change patient bedding, help them with eating and grooming, and administer treatment. But with the rise of telemedicine and opportunities for remote working, that’s all changed. The internet and the cloud are fundamentally changing the way that hospitals and other medical facilities administer patient care.
For those looking to become a specialized nurse, this is excellent news. It means that you no longer have to work in the medical setting; you can work from home. What’s more, you can often do more enjoyable work than you could if you were stationed on a ward.
If you want to become a fully-fledged RN, you have to go through two steps. First, you have to obtain a recognized qualification in nursing. And then, at the end of that, you have to pass an exam proving that you’re fit to begin working in a nurse capacity.
Once you get the official RN tag next to your name, the possibilities for remote work really begin to open up. Here are some of the career choices available to you.
Medical Coder
Medical coders are professionals who assign patients to different categories of disease for recording and monitoring purposes. Governments and hospitals, for instance, like to keep track of the number of cases of particular diseases for their official reports.
Medical coder nurses, therefore, have a decidedly clerical job. Their role is to review patient files and then create records. For this reason, there’s no need to show up at the hospital every day. Many coders simply work from home.
Telehealth RN
The same applies to a telehealth RN. The purpose of these nurses is to provide in-depth medical help and attention via an internet connection, usually using an app similar to Skype. Here, the nurse offers advice, gives dosage instructions, and offers more information on the progression of symptoms. Telehealth RNs can also perform triage and make referrals to doctors to examine a case more thoroughly.
Telehealth RNs typically report higher job satisfaction than their traditional counterparts. They get to do all the fun parts of nursing - such as educating patients - while avoiding many of the chores and dirty work. What’s more, they get to see more people throughout the day than they ever could, were they tied to a single ward.
Case Manager
The role of a case manager is to ensure that individual patients are getting the right treatment, suitable for the progression of their cases. They also monitor the capacity of wards and redirect resources where appropriate.
Case managers, therefore, can’t usually do their work from home exclusively. They can, however, perform much of it remotely, given that the role is primarily about handling data, not providing patient care.
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