Non-Clinical Nurse Practitioner Jobs – What to Know
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The modern nurse practitioner (NP) workforce is diverse and well-educated, and not every NP works at the bedside full-time. But a confluence of forces mean that non-clinical roles for NPs could be increasingly important in the coming years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created some of the highest levels of nursing burnout in history: a 2022 survey found more than 60 percent of NPs both burned out and depressed. Non-clinical roles can provide NPs with respite from stressful work conditions without requiring them to leave the workforce completely.
Non-clinical NP jobs are non-patient facing and can be performed on either a part-time or full-time basis. Sometimes they still occur in medical settings, but without the patient-facing aspect; other times, they resemble a tech job more closely. These non-clinical roles aren’t without their own stressors but can provide a welcome change of scenery and responsibility.
NPs can pursue some non-clinical NP jobs with no additional education. Others will require continuing education, ranging from single online courses to professional certifications to post-graduate certificates to entire degree programs.
At the same time, an NP will bring their own experience and education to bear, and contribute to the growth, maturation, and diversity of the modern NP workforce.
To learn more about some of the most popular non-clinical roles for NPs, read on.
Become a Health Policy Nurse
Health policy nurses design, study, enforce, and advocate for more inclusive and effective healthcare policies. They can work for nonprofit organizations, public health initiatives, or professional associations. As a highly regulated and policy-driven industry, changes to policy can have enormous effects for nurses, patients, and the general public.
Like medical research, health policy needs more advanced nursing perspectives. Health policy nurses can have outsized effects: supporting academic grants, spotlighting important research, and organizing stakeholders into collective action. This role places a high level of importance on communication, collaboration, and research.
NPs transitioning into health policy will benefit from continuing education in leadership, regulatory compliance, and advocacy. They can also connect with professional organizations at the state and federal levels to find allies and build the networks they need to effect change. NPs who wish to study policy directly can pursue a master’s of public health (MPH) degree.
Become a Nurse Administrator
Nurse administrators, also known as nurse managers, fill a non-clinical role despite working in or near a clinical setting. Nurse administrators may oversee nursing departments or entire medical facilities and be employed as quality improvement coordinators. Their chief responsibilities typically include recruiting, hiring, and maintaining nursing teams.
NPs are well-suited to the nurse administrator role. Their clinical training will help them to understand and meet the needs of nurses and patients alike, and their leadership abilities will help them to implement changes effectively. Some administrative responsibilities, however, may require additional education. The management side of nursing requires budgeting, financial reports, strategic vision, and regulatory compliance.
NPs interested in transitioning to the nurse administrator role can seek continuing education in financial management, personnel management, and communication. Those who wish to position themselves for advancement within the field may choose to pursue a master’s of healthcare administration (MHA).
Become a Nurse Consultant
A nurse consultant can sometimes act as a catchall term, but it’s a real position. Tech companies, health organizations contract nurse consultants, and public sector entities to share their expertise and experience. They can work as expert witnesses, as quality improvement officers, or as think tank specialists. Their specific responsibilities will vary based on the precise needs of their employer.
Nurse consultants work at the crossroads of business, research, and policy. Strong communication skills and interpersonal skills are a must. While nurse consultants are often asked to work in a variety of different roles, most nurse consultants will be experts in one particular area of nursing practice (unless they’re asked to consult for the NP role as a whole).
NPs transitioning into consulting should consider continuing education opportunities focusing on communication, leadership, and project management. Those who wish to specialize in a particular aspect of nursing may need additional formalized education; highly specialized roles like that of the medical-science liaison (MSL) may even need a second doctoral degree.
Become a Nurse Educator
Nurse educators foster the knowledge-building and sharing of the nursing community. They can be professors in MSN or DNP programs or writers and lecturers for continuing medical education (CME). Nurse educators play an important role in training and preparing the next generation of NPs, in both clinical and non-clinical capacities. Many nurse educators work as assistant professors at nursing schools and still maintain a part-time clinical practice.
Nurse educators need strong written and oral communication skills and leadership ability. There is a heavy emphasis on the technical, from pathophysiology to pharmacology. A growing number of nurse educators work remotely.
NPs transitioning into nurse education can benefit from professional development courses in education and communication. A doctoral-level degree, like a DNP, is increasingly the standard for nurse educators, but an MSN may be enough in some circumstances.
Become a Nurse Informaticist
Nursing informatics is the intersection of nursing and data, a specialty only growing in importance: every year, more and more healthcare runs on data analytics. Nurse informaticists can work for insurance companies, medical facilities, or in the public sector. They can also work for tech companies and startups in the healthcare sector.
Nurse informaticists will often work with electronic health records (EHRs), and may be responsible for how that data is collected, analyzed, secured, and shared. They’ll need robust project management skills, along with strong technical skills. This is an ideal role for NPs who wish to transition away from the bedside while still directly impacting patient care.
NPs moving into nurse informatics may pursue continuing education in data analytics, SQL, and other coding; they may also seek out professional certification in vendor-specific software. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) offers both.
Become a Nurse Researcher
Nurse researchers advance medical science through research. They will study various aspects of medicine, illness, and healthcare, and design studies that lead to new findings. Insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, or private contractors can employ nurse researchers. Their typical responsibilities can include designing and implementing studies, writing and editing journal articles, and collecting and analyzing data.
Comparatively few NPs lead research compared to MDs, and more NPs are needed to conduct medical research with an advanced nursing perspective. NPs transitioning into research will need strong academic and scientific backgrounds. While leading research is a full-time job with arduous standards of excellence, the requirements for part-time contributors can be more relaxed.
Nurse researchers are often doctorally prepared, and typically with a PhD. Academic institutions remain the main portal to medical research. NPs transitioning into research may seek out professional development in data analytics and regulatory compliance.
Matt Zbrog
WriterMatt Zbrog is a writer and researcher from Southern California. Since 2018, he’s written extensively about the modern nursing workforce, conducting hundreds of interviews with nurse leaders, nurse educators, and nurse advocates to explore the issues that matter to them most. His Advocates to Know series focuses on nurse practitioners (NPs) who go above and beyond in changing policy and practice in important areas like veteran’s care, human trafficking prevention, and telehealth access. He regularly collaborates with subject matter experts from the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) to elevate issues that empower nurses everywhere.