10 Best Remote Nursing Jobs for Introverts

I vividly remember a moment sitting in the hospital break room where I referred to myself as being ‘shy & introverted’ and a coworker immediately popped their head up from their lunch and said, 

“You’re definitely not shy. You’re quiet but not shy. That’s how I know to really listen when you do speak up about something because I know you’re sharing info that needs to be heard!” 
People tend to think of all nurses as being highly social, but this isn’t always true!  While nurses love to interact and care for their patients, some nurses are introverts and prefer to have more quiet, intimate conversations with others vs. speaking to large crowds or being in loud environments. That’s where a great remote nursing job geared towards introverts can come in handy.

Oftentimes, nurses who are introverts find themselves in a nursing role that is really stressful for them, and they’re not sure why.  Introvert nurses need time to recharge in a quiet environment, and that can be really hard in a fast-paced, loud hospital setting.  If nurses don’t get time for a quiet break during their workday to recharge, it can lead to burnout very quickly.  

Since the boom of remote nursing jobs in 2020, many introverted nurses have found their way to a nursing job at home that better suits their personalities, allowing them to still use their nursing knowledge and expertise in a way that isn’t as stressful or chaotic for them. 

I started my first remote nursing job in 2018, making phone calls to follow up with patients after discharge. I quickly realized that while I enjoyed my role, there were other remote nursing specialties that were better suited to my unique skills and introverted personality traits.  Nurses are needed in all areas of healthcare, so don’t ever let someone tell you that you aren’t a real nurse if you’re not working at the bedside! 

 There are so many options for bedside nurses to transition into that still require their clinical expertise while also acquiring new skills to benefit their patients.

Most of these jobs for introverts fall under the Revenue Integrity career category and are applicable to RNs, LPNs, and APRNs.

Let’s look at a few options:

Appeals/Denials

A clinical appeals nurse, also known as a denials and appeals nurse, advocates for patients and helps them receive the necessary care when their insurance claims and services are denied. 

These nurses review denied insurance claims and carefully analyze the clinical documentation to determine if the billing was coded correctly, if the denial was appropriate, or, in some cases, if the services were medically appropriate/necessary. Schedule flexibility may vary depending on the employer, but these roles offer more flexibility than remote roles with higher patient interaction requirements.

These nurses can be employed at hospitals, insurance companies, or third party companies that contact with either type of client.

Utilization Management & Utilization Review

Utilization review and utilization management (includes prior authorization, concurrent, and retrospective review): Nurses review clinical documentation and patient treatment plans/orders to ensure resources and services are being utilized appropriately and cost-effectively. During the review process, they determine the medical necessity of procedures, treatments, and medications. 

Additionally, they collaborate with providers and insurance companies to obtain prior authorization for medical services. They also perform concurrent and retrospective reviews, depending on their specific job requirements. 

These nurses can be employed by insurance companies, hospitals, or third-party vendors. Prior authorization roles tend to have more phone time (calling offices and facilities), but nurses are not generally making phone calls to patients in these roles.

Fraud, Waste, Abuse (SIU/Special Investigation Unit), Audit Nurse, Clinical Claim Review/Audit/Coding

Medical Underwriting

Nurses in this specialty analyze medical records and assess an applicant’s health risks to determine eligibility and cost for insurance coverage.  This could include health, life, disability, and even auto insurance companies. Nurses in this area of practice have a strong attention to detail and use their clinical knowledge to make informed decisions about an applicant’s risk profile, ultimately impacting the insurance company’s bottom line. 

Having prior medical review experience in coding, utilization management, or clinical documentation improvement is extremely beneficial to landing a remote nursing job in medical underwriting.

Quality & Data Abstraction

A data abstraction nurse reviews patient records to extract clinical information that can help identify trends, gaps in healthcare, and potential quality issues. This tech-heavy specialty requires strong attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills. Data abstraction nurses often enjoy flexible schedules and may also take on seasonal contract work as Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) abstractors, Jan-May each year. Make sure to read this blog post if you’re looking to land a seasonal HEDIS nursing job! There’s also a free HEDIS tips guide and introductory course available in the free membership option.

Hospital quality departments often hire nurses to work in data abstracting and submit data to national Registries, such as NSQIP, Breast Cancer Surveillance, or Perinatal Quality Collaboratives. This list by NIH includes many additional potential quality improvement registries hospitals may participate in.

Legal Nurse Consulting

Nurses in this field have expertise in reviewing/auditing medical records and preparing medical chronologies. Their primary responsibilities include objectively organizing, reviewing, analyzing, and managing various medical records, focusing on producing a chronological summarization that includes complaints, claimed injuries, medical treatment rendered, and identification of missing records. LNCs utilize their nursing knowledge to offer expert insight into legal cases involving healthcare issues and may provide contextual information, write reports, or offer expert testimony. 

LNCs often work independently as freelance contractors (sometimes subcontractors) and enjoy the flexibility to set their own hours and choose clients. They can also seek careers at law firms and hospital risk management/compliance departments. For more information about what a legal nurse consultant is – check out this blog post from a fellow bedside nurse turned LNC!

Nursing Informatics & Data Analytics

Informatics nurses combine their clinical expertise with technology and data management to improve healthcare systems, workflows, and patient outcomes. They facilitate implementing and optimizing health information systems, develop protocols and workflows, and analyze data to drive evidence-based practice. Job settings can be hospital-based, remote/hybrid, or remote, with travel with software companies like EPIC, Cerner, Allscripts, etc. Positions in this specialty vary based on the needs of the project.

Some different areas nurses can work in informatics are education/training, building documentation within a software application, and leading implementation projects for various software or medical device integration projects. 

Data Analytics (data science) is a lesser-known specialty for nurses but is closely related to the informatics specialty.  Searching this specialty on Google often leads to general information about the field but this website at my alma mater that has info targeted directly for nurses, including course recommendations for data collection (SQL) training, and other in person and online educational options to help you break into this field. This really is one of the best resources that breaks down the career options in an easy to understand format!

Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialist (CDIS/CDI)

A CDI nurse, Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialist (sometimes called Clinical Document Improvement Specialist), ensures medical records are accurate and complete to support patient care and the reimbursement processes. They review patient records for evidence of diagnosis codes, diagnostic tests, and treatments and communicate with healthcare providers (queries) to clarify information.

The CDI nurse reports the impact of complications, comorbidities, illness severity, and procedures on medical records. They are crucial in maintaining data integrity and quality in healthcare settings. 

Overall, their goal is to find any gaps in clinical documentation so that those discrepancies can be corrected for accurate medical/coding billing reimbursement.

Nurse Writer

Nurse writers play a vital role in the healthcare industry by utilizing their clinical expertise and writing skills to create informative and engaging health-related content. They produce various materials, such as blog posts, patient education materials, newsletters, case studies, content/copywriting, script writing for videos or podcasts, nursing CEU content, write NCLEX questions; there are so many options available in this role! Nurse writers aim to educate patients, colleagues, and the general public on various health topics through their work.

Clinical Research & Some Biotech Nursing Jobs