It’s 3 a.m., and you’ve worked multiple 12-hour shifts in a row. The patient in room four just threw up; room five’s patient keeps ringing his call button; room six’s patient has a fever of 104 degrees.
On top of that, you haven’t used the bathroom in four hours or eaten since the day before.
Talk about stress and the potential for burnout. According to data, 41 percent of nurses feel overwhelmed and burnt out. Now, you might think to yourself, “aren’t all nursing jobs stressful? Isn’t this what I signed up for?” The truth is, there isn’t a blissed-out wonderland where you don’t experience stress. At least not while getting paid.
There are nursing jobs with less stress than others. This post will outline various nursing roles that aren’t in the emergency room or trauma unit. There are even a host of non-bedside nursing roles that you can perform as well.
Least Stressful Nursing Jobs
As stated, several jobs within nursing don’t require the level of stress outlined in the introduction. Now, again, these jobs do carry stress, but not as much as other roles.
NURSE TIP
-Jami, RN & nurse advocate @Incredible Health
Telehealth Nurse 
The telehealth role has become more popular during the pandemic. This job involves providing high-quality health care to patients through phone, email or video conference. You can work from home and have flexible hours.
Most of your patients call about routine health questions or check on patients with long-term issues like diabetes. Though telehealth nurses often have a large client base, they aren’t dealing with urgent matters.
Overall, the ability to work from home, deal with non-urgent matters and work flexible hours makes this job a low-stress role.
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Nurse Educator
The nurse educator role involves teaching and training student nurses along with practicing nurses. The nurse educator works in teaching hospitals along with nursing schools. Some nurse educators work at clinics as well.
This position helps encourages nurses to continue learning and keep up with the latest medical developments. Since you aren’t working directly with patients, it is considered less stressful than traditional roles.
Now, this position is for registered nurses who have advanced nursing degrees. However, if you are looking for a less-stressful job, this is a good match.
Public Health Nurse
This role is perfect for nurses who enjoy working with under-resourced communities and want to get away from traditional nursing stress. The public health nurse provides health care to impoverished communities. They advocate for greater health care access for these populations.
Moreover, the role includes screenings, educating about disease prevention and identifying risk factors to the community.
As a public health nurse, you have an opportunity to help people in ways that don’t cause significant burnout to you.
Top nurse leadership roles on Incredible Health
School Nurse
Enjoy working with children? Perfect. This role places nurses in schools working directly with children of all ages. The school nurse performs basic first aid and gives children their daily medication. They also provide hearing and vision tests for students.
The role requires a bachelor’s degree in nursing and state licensure.
Though you aren’t in a hospital, the role is challenging and engaging. You work independently, which can trigger stress for individuals. However, it is a relatively low-stress role overall.
Research Nurse
If drawn to analysis and data, then research nursing might spur your interest. As a researcher, you would work in universities or research facilities. Your work wouldn’t involve patients much at all.
Generally, research nurses have advanced degrees like a Master of Science in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice.
Most research nurses study diseases to find new treatments and test new drugs through clinical trials. They also study medical procedures. The patient interaction that they have involves monitoring and caring for research participants.
Though not completely stress-free, it is a job worth exploring if you enjoy studying and working on the cutting edge of scientific inquiry.
Nurse Administrator
Though nurse administrators work in health care centers, they don’t directly work with patients. They mostly create schedules, oversee performance evaluations and create policy planning.
While you still have a lot on your plate with the role, it isn’t a direct patient-facing role. You may feel more comfortable with an administrative position where you lead people than directly caring for patients.
Home Health Nurse
This role still allows you to work with patients without dealing with a hospital healthcare facility setting. You get to work one-on-one with patients, helping them with their medication needs and checking vital signs as a home health nurse.
Generally, you only have a few patients on your docket, which makes this role a lot less stressful.
Last Word on Least Stressful Nursing Jobs
Now that you’ve seen various nontraditional nursing jobs, you might wonder to feel like applying to jobs. If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place. By signing up for Incredible Health, you can start applying for jobs and have employers come to you.
