Nursing school isn’t easy, and having a job while you’re in nursing school is even less so, but it’s often necessary. You may need to pay for school, need more income, or just want to gain some valuable work experience in healthcare. There are some jobs that are better than others. The more your job overlaps and aligns with nursing, the better. So, lets go through the best jobs for nursing students.
One more great thing about doing the job while in nursing school is that you will see firsthand what it’s like to work in healthcare. This can help you figure out which areas of nursing you enjoy during school.
7 Good Jobs for Nursing Students
Following are 7 top nursing jobs that can not only help them pay for nursing school but also provide them with the experiences and skills necessary for a successful nursing career. Let’s dive in.
All of the jobs I will discuss would look phenomenal on a newly licensed nurse’s resume and provide very pertinent and helpful experience in your journey to becoming an amazing nurse. Let’s dive in!
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
A CNA or certified nursing assistant is a person that provides basic care to patients. Many nurses start out their career as a CNA. This job is a precursor to a registered nurse, much like your app before your entrée. You work together with nurses every single day, so you’re very familiar with their role, and you are essentially providing direct care to patients. This experience is absolutely invaluable. While there are 6 more job options listed after this one, becoming a CNA gets you the most bang for your developmental buck.
Responsibilities of CNAs
Note: These can vary widely from facility to facility
- Turning or moving patients
- Gathering medical supplies
- Getting vital signs
- Bathing patients
- Monitoring patient conditions
- Assisting with medical procedures
- Documenting information
- Cleaning rooms and bed linens
- Stocking supplies
- Safety procedures
- Transporting patients
- Simple dressing changes
Pay Rate of CNAs
- An entry-level CNA with less than 1 year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $12.55 based on 1,840 salaries.
- An early career CNA with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $13.00 based on 13,408 salaries.
- A mid-career CNA with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $13.64 based on 9,293 salaries.
- An experienced CNA with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $14.25 based on 12,681 salaries.
- In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $15.
Source: Payscale
Phlebotomist
A phlebotomist is a trained medical professional in the collection of blood samples from patients. This job requires a lot of attention to detail and provides great experience for students. You will get more comfortable in hospital, talking to patients and drawing blood.
Responsibilities of Phlebotomists
- Taking blood samples from patients
- Shipping specimens to testing centers
- Keeping track of all supplies used during the day
- Verifying patient information and labeling blood samples properly
- Accurately updating patient information in the organization’s database
- Helping nervous or frightened patients remain calm during blood draws
Pay Rates of Phlebotomists
- An entry-level Phlebotomist with less than 1 year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $13.54 based on 508 salaries.
- An early career Phlebotomist with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $14.38 based on 2,494 salaries.
- A mid-career Phlebotomist with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $15.96 based on 1,416 salaries.
- An experienced Phlebotomist with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $17.26 based on 1,767 salaries.
- In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $18.
Source: Payscale
Nursing School Tutor
If you have good communication and teaching skills, becoming a tutor can be a great way to further your education. You don’t need any certification or experience to become a tutor – you just need to be willing and able to help out students that are struggling with the subject material. Many schools will offer training for tutors and enable you to provide this support on-campus in places like the library.
If you’re a junior or a senior, you can tutor for the courses you have already successfully completed. This will help solidify the information even more for you. I actually did this when I was in college! I tutored English, helped people write papers and helped edit them, and then tutored nursing school pre-requisite courses as well.
Responsibilities of Tutors
- Helping students overcome challenges
- Monitoring how well each student is doing throughout the tutoring sessions
- Ensuring all materials given to the student are completed by session end
- Analyzing results from assessments and pinpointing where academic problems lie
- Facilitating review sessions for upcoming tests and quizzes
Pay of Nurse Tutors
This is a minimum wage side job that you would be paid hourly for. You likely would not receive benefits.
Patient Transporter
A transporter’s main responsibility is to ensure the safety and comfort of patients in hospitals and medical facilities. This can include moving patients from one location in a facility to another, and ensuring that they are taken care of during their procedure or visit.
Responsibilities of Patient Transporters
- Transporting hospitalized patients around the facility (for example, taking a patient from their hospital room down to an MRI)
- Keeping the surroundings safe by ensuring stretchers aren’t hit by doors or carts
- Helping patients move into position after being put on equipment
- Ensuring IV poles are locked into place once patient is ready for anesthesia
- Keeping order between patients competing for attention at the same time
Pay Rates of Patient Transporters
- An entry-level Patient Transporter with less than 1 year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $11.88 based on 112 salaries.
- An early career Patient Transporter with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $12.29 based on 350 salaries.
- A mid-career Patient Transporter with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $13.20 based on 94 salaries.
- An experienced Patient Transporter with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $13.93 based on 74 salaries.
- In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $15.
Source: Payscale
Medical Unit Receptionist
Nursing units typically employ a receptionist that works during peak times (0700-1500) to assist nurses and aides in completing their work. They do this by taking care of much of the paperwork as well as answer phones and screen calls. Medical unit receptionists can work in both inpatient hospital units as well as outpatient clinics.
Responsibilities of Medical Unit Receptionists
- Greeting visitors and new patients
- Ensuring required documentation is completed
- Settling admissions with appropriate computer and paperwork; discharging patients appropriately
- Prepare charts
- Answer phones; transfer calls to respective staff member
- When emergencies occur, help with crowd control and calling people
- Order and stock supplies
- Contact various departments on behalf of staff
Pay Rates of Medical Unit Receptionists
- An entry-level Medical Receptionist with less than 1 year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $13.37 based on 231 salaries.
- An early career Medical Receptionist with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $14.25 based on 1,491 salaries.
- A mid-career Medical Receptionist with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $15.01 based on 801 salaries.
- An experienced Medical Receptionist with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $15.40 based on 893 salaries.
- In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $16.
Source: Payscale
Monitor Technician
A Monitor Technician observes the continuous cardiac monitoring of patients on regular nursing floors. (Patients on ICUs and step-downs are typically monitored by the nurses on the units themselves.) You will be required to take an educational course and likely pass an ECG exam to demonstrate your competency. This is a phenomenal job for a nursing student, as you will get extremely familiar with telemetry, which is something that takes time to get really good at – so you’ll have a leg up!
Responsibilities of Monitor Technicians
- View heart rates and rhythms on a computer monitor to detect any abnormalities
- Communicate with bedside nurse to notify of changes
- Maintain stock of telemetry supplies (boxes and leads)
Pay Rates of Monitor Technicians
- An entry-level Cardiac Monitor Technician with less than 1 year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $12.84 based on 46 salaries.
- An early career Cardiac Monitor Technician with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $14.16 based on 195 salaries.
- A mid-career Cardiac Monitor Technician with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $15.41 based on 140 salaries.
- An experienced Cardiac Monitor Technician with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $16.21 based on 174 salaries.
- In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $18.
In-Home Caregiver
When we talk about caregivers, we often think of an individual that works with the elderly. However, nurses can also serve as caregivers for patients in their own homes. You would provide basic patient care, which would help you get experience doing these tasks and simply just being with patients.
Responsibilities of an In-Home Caregiver
- Helping patients eat and clean up afterward
- Bathing and grooming patients, plus helping them do their hair and nails
- Assisting with toileting
- Answering any questions or concerns patients may have
Salaries of In-Home Caregivers
- Home Caregivers pays its employees an average of $13.65 an hour.
- Hourly pay at Home Caregivers ranges from an average of $9.54 to $19.53 an hour.
- Home Caregivers employees with the job title Caregiver make the most with an average hourly rate of $11.99, while employees with the title Caregiver make the least with an average hourly rate of $11.99.
Summary
Any of these jobs would look phenomenal on your nursing school resume! You can gain valuable experience while boosting your resume. You could work weekends, part time, or PRN.
More Resources For Nursing Students
- 10 Mistakes Nursing Students Make (And How to Avoid Them) – a free 26-page ebook that outlines all of the mistakes I made in nursing school, and the ones I’ve seen so many other students make since – plus practical ways to prevent making them yourself
- The FreshRN course catalog – all of my courses are designed to help the new grad transition to practice, so check them out!
- The FreshRN Podcast – 90+ episodes specifically crafted with nursing students and new grads in mind to answer all of those questions and concerns you might be too intimidated to ask
- Straight A Nursing Podcast – tons of episodes from my favorite, Nurse Mo!
- The FreshRN VIP Community – join our non-Facebook online community that includes an exclusive 40% discount off of any FreshRN course
- Mission Accomplished – a free 4-lesson email course from FreshRN to walk you through NCLEX prep, resume writing, getting your license, and more.
Feel like nursing school didn’t prepare you for clinicals?
Nursing clinicals are awkward at first. You’re surrounded by experienced nurses, real patients, and you’re just trying to figure out where the gloves are. It’s a lot.
That’s why we created Nursing Skills Refresh—to give you a realistic, supportive head start. You’ll get demo videos of common procedures, insider tips from two experienced nurses, and a clear picture of how a shift actually flows. (and a lot more) The goal? Walk into clinicals feeling like you belong there—not like you’re in the way.
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I work as mental health worker where I administer meds, dealing with crisis situations, dealing with drug overdoses as well. Great job for nursing school.