How to Work Remotely as a Nurse: Top 8 Remote Nurse Jobs
| 7 Min Read
When you think about nursing, close contact with patients likely comes to mind. However, the rise of telehealth has expanded this profession, creating the need for remote nursing jobs that focus on caring for patients from home, offices and other locations outside of hospitals.
Of course, in-person care remains essential. After all, someone must be present to administer medicine, make patients comfortable and perform other duties requiring hands-on interaction. But some tasks do not require direct contact with patients. A CBS News report recently explored how virtual nurses can:
- Provide admissions instructions
- Contact patients to schedule appointments
- Educate patients on treatments
Interest in telehealth spiked at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. From April to December 2020, Medicare members had 53 million telehealth visits, up from 5 million the previous year. Fast forward to 2023, when telehealth represented 17% of patient visits. This sustained usage could create demand for remote nursing jobs, especially in rural areas with limited health care providers.
In addition to expanding health care access, telehealth offers benefits to nurses. For instance, work-from-home nursing jobs do not require commutes to medical facilities, which saves time and fosters work/life balance. Additionally, telehealth provides a convenient format for nurses to offer quick consultations, potentially cutting wait times in medical facilities.
How to Transition to Remote Nursing
While remote nursing jobs deliver many benefits, landing one of these roles can be competitive. Here are some of the qualifications and skills to develop if you’re interested in becoming a telehealth nurse:
Licensing and Certification
Nurses need up-to-date RN licenses to work in hospitals in their state. Things get more complicated in telehealth when nurses provide services to patients located across the country.
For this reason, RNs might need to meet the requirements of multi-state compacts before seeking remote nurse jobs. These compacts between states establish mutual laws and standards of care for health care providers to follow when treating out-of-state patients. One example is the Nurse Licensure Compact, which offers a way to work across state lines without obtaining an individual license for each location.
As of December 2024, there wasn’t a telehealth nursing certification; however, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) offers an ambulatory care certification that aligns with the demands of many telehealth roles. This certification allows nurses to provide services in outpatient settings, and RNs with this credential on their resumes could have an advantage when applying for remote nursing jobs.
Skills and Qualifications
Working virtually requires distinct skills, many of which differ from face-to-face positions. As outlined by NursingEducation.org, employers filling remote nursing jobs expect proficiency in various areas, including:
- Time management: To work independently, nurses must stay on task when interacting with patients and fulfilling administrative duties.
- Regulatory compliance: When sharing patient information digitally, it’s crucial for nurses to follow HIPPA regulations and protect sensitive data.
- Communication: Greater reliance on written communication demands that nurses convey clear, easy-to-understand information.
Nurses who lack those skills might want to pursue professional development opportunities to get up to speed. Toward that end, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers training on telehealth topics, with some available at no cost.
Technology and Equipment
Recent innovations have paved the way for virtual nursing. The journal Informatics and Health described some of the technologies used in online nursing careers, such as:
- Virtual communication tools for discussing symptoms with patients
- Tele-triage systems for coordinating patient care
- Remote monitoring for nurses overseeing long-term treatments
- Telemedicine platforms with access to medical records
To fulfill the duties of work-from-home nursing jobs, RNs need secure internet connections and workstations with videoconferencing tools, such as forward-facing cameras and microphones. However, not all virtual nurses work at home. As noted by Health Tech Magazine, some health care organizations staff remote offices with the telehealth hardware and software needed to provide care virtually.
Top 8 Remote Nursing Jobs
If you’re interested in virtual nursing, you’ll find an array of opportunities focusing on patient care, coordination and education. Here are eight excellent career paths to consider with average earnings in December 2024:
1. Telehealth Nurse
According to ZipRecruiter, telehealth nurses use various videoconferencing tools to engage patients and assess their health. Their responsibilities include:
- Discussing symptoms with patients
- Outlining treatment details
- Using remote monitoring systems to check vital signs
According to Salary.com, the average annual salary for telehealth nurses is $96,794.
2. Remote Case Manager
These virtual positions are ideal for nurses with skills in end-to-end patient care and advocacy. Remote case managers coordinate care for hospitals and outpatient facilities by engaging patients about their conditions and connecting them with the appropriate treatment options. This high-paying remote nursing job offers an average salary of $101,834 per year.
3. Remote Nurse Educator
Remote nurse educator jobs focus on preparing students to deliver evidence-based patient care via online coursework. Many of these nursing professionals work for academic institutions, either for schools of nursing or continuing education departments. The average salary for online or remote nursing instructor jobs is $88,183 per year.
4. Remote Utilization Review Nurse
Nurses with skills in coordinating care, costs and insurance claims can excel as remote utilization review nurses. These roles focus on examining medical records and other resources to detail treatment options for health care providers. Utilization review nurses also work with insurance companies to clear preauthorization hurdles to ensure coverage of treatments and medications. The average salary for nurses working in this area is $92,375 per year.
5. Legal Nurse Consultant
Nurses who work as legal consultants apply their professional backgrounds to share insights on medical cases. Often retained by attorneys involved in injury and malpractice lawsuits, these nurses analyze medical records to shed light on the legitimacy of claims.
While legal nurse consultants can complete much of their work virtually, they might need to testify in person. Additionally, some employers require candidates to obtain the Legal Nurse Consultant Certification in addition to a bachelor’s or master’s in nursing. These roles offer an average salary of $91,351 per year.
6. Remote Clinical Research Coordinator
Clinical research coordinators contribute to clinical trials and other research that aims to understand health and well-being. Remote professionals can support on-site coordinators by using web platforms to gather and enter data, monitor patient safety and create study documentation from home instead of lab and office settings, according to CRIO, a clinical trial workflow company. The average salary for clinical research coordinators is $71,042 per year.
7. Remote Triage Nurse
Remote triage nurses provide direct support to patients by phone or using videoconferencing tools, applying their health care backgrounds to:
- Assess a patient’s symptoms
- Offer medical advice
- Support other medical staff remotely
Remote triage nurses also identify the urgency of a patient’s needs and where they should receive treatment, such as in a hospital or outpatient facility. The average salary for remote/telephonic triage RNs is $88,120 per year.
8. Medical Writer
Nurses skilled in transforming complex medical information into compelling prose can pursue roles in medical writing. Registered nurses can perform these jobs from anywhere with internet access, working full time or freelance to document medical findings in:
- Peer-reviewed journals
- Science magazines
- Educational literature
- Corporate white papers
The average salary for entry-level medical writing roles is $129,159 per year.
Online Courses Can Prepare You for Remote and Face-to-Face Roles
The flexible nature of remote positions makes them quite attractive to nurses, increasing the competition for open roles. If you want to stand out among other candidates, it’s vital to develop qualifications that employers value—and earning a Master of Science in Nursing online could help you do just that.
Sacred Heart University’s online MSN program instills advanced nursing competencies in a convenient format. Our award-winning faculty members bring years of nursing experience to each class, preparing you to thrive in the next phase of your career. You can choose three career-aligned specializations, including an MSN: Nurse Education specialization program that enables you to teach the next generation of registered nurses.