Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Nurse Built a 35K Side Hustle in Medical Writing
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this nurse, let's call her Dana, who started a side hustle in medical writing that's now pulling in about thirty-five thousand dollars a month. And here's the kicker: she's still working full-time as an RN in a hospital. Luna: Thirty-five grand a month? That's not a side hustle, that's a whole second salary. How did she get there? Lucas: It didn't happen overnight. She spent about two years building it up. But the path she took is really instructive, because she started with the most basic thing: her own experience writing care plans and patient notes. She realized that all that clinical documentation was actually a marketable skill. Luna: So she wasn't starting from zero. She just didn't know she had a skill that people would pay for. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a huge lesson for anyone in a specialized field. She began by offering to write for small health blogs and wellness sites, just to get clips. She charged like fifty dollars for a five-hundred-word post. But those pieces became her portfolio. Luna: What made her stand out? I mean, there are a million health bloggers. Lucas: Her clinical background. She could read a study, interpret the stats, and explain what it meant for a patient without dumbing it down. That's rare. Most health writers are writers first, health people second. She was the opposite. Luna: So she was speaking the language of the audience but with a clinician's credibility. Lucas: Right. And that's what landed her next gig. A small biotech startup needed someone to write white papers and regulatory summaries. They didn't want a PR person, they wanted someone who knew the science. She got the job through a cold email, and that first contract paid two thousand dollars for a single document. Luna: That's a big jump from fifty bucks a post. What changed? Lucas: She repositioned herself. She stopped pitching as a general health writer and started pitching as a nurse who writes for healthcare companies. Her website literally says 'Clinical accuracy with a human voice.' She raised her rates and started targeting clients who needed that niche expertise. Luna: So it's not about writing more, it's about positioning. Lucas: Exactly. And the money followed. By the end of year one, she was making about eight thousand a month. By year two, she had recurring clients, including a medical education company that hired her to write continuing education courses for nurses and doctors. Luna: Continuing ed courses — that sounds like a whole different beast. How does that work? Lucas: She writes the curriculum, the learning objectives, the quizzes, the whole package. And she gets paid per course, with each one taking about forty hours of work. She charges seven thousand dollars per course, and she can do about two a month alongside her full-time job. Luna: That's fourteen thousand a month just from that one client. Plus the biotech work and the occasional blog post. Lucas: It adds up. But here's the thing: she doesn't work insane hours. She's a night shift nurse, so she has weekday mornings free. She does most of her writing between eight and eleven a.m., four days a week. It's about fifteen hours a week, which is a lot but not crazy. Luna: The night shift actually gives her the time. That's a smart setup. Lucas: Absolutely. And she's really disciplined about it. She treats those mornings like a job. No social media, no errands, just writing. She even has a separate business bank account and pays herself a monthly 'salary' from her side hustle income. Luna: I love that. It keeps the boundaries clear. What about the ethics part? I know medical writing has strict rules. Lucas: That's a big one. She's very careful to never write anything that could be construed as promoting a drug off-label or making unsubstantiated claims. Every piece she writes for a pharma or biotech client goes through a legal review. She also includes proper disclaimers and cites sources. It's not just good practice, it's non-negotiable. Luna: So she's not just a writer, she's a compliance gatekeeper. That's valuable. Lucas: Yeah, and that's why she can charge those rates. Clients know they can trust her to get it right. She's never had a piece rejected for accuracy or compliance issues, and that reputation is gold. Word of mouth has brought her about half her clients. Luna: She must be careful about not overcommitting, though. I mean, with a full-time nursing job, there's a risk of burnout. Lucas: She's actually capped her monthly writing hours at seventy-five. That's her hard limit. She's turned down projects that would push her over, even one that would have paid ten thousand dollars for a rush job. She said it wasn't worth the stress. Luna: That's a healthy boundary. And it probably makes her more in demand, because she's not desperate for work. Lucas: Exactly. Scarcity creates value. She also uses a system where she only takes on two major projects at a time, so she can give each one her full attention. Her clients know she's not going to disappear mid-project. Luna: This is really inspiring, Lucas. For someone listening who might be in a similar position — say a pharmacist, a physical therapist, any clinical role — what's the first step to get into this? Lucas: Start by writing one article on a topic you know deeply, and publish it somewhere public — a LinkedIn post, a Medium article, even a personal blog. That's your proof of concept. Then reach out to one healthcare business you admire and offer to write a sample for them. Don't ask for money upfront, just offer value. Luna: And if that goes well, you have your first client. Lucas: Right. And once you have one paying client, you can raise your rates and get more selective. It's a ladder, not a leap. Luna: It's funny, because before this conversation, I thought medical writing was just for people with PhDs or something. But Dana's story shows it's more about your clinical experience and your ability to communicate. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a thread we've seen across so many of these episodes. It's not the credential, it's the perspective you bring. That's what makes it a viable side hustle. Luna: And speaking of things that matter, if this conversation has helped you think about your own career or side hustle possibilities, we just want you to know that listener support is what keeps this show ad-free. If you've gotten value out of episodes like this, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it genuinely makes a difference. It lets us keep digging into these stories without worrying about sponsors. Luna: So back to Dana — what's next for her? Is she planning to leave nursing? Lucas: She says no. She loves patient care, and she thinks it keeps her writing grounded. She's actually planning to cut back to part-time nursing in the next year, but she wants to keep doing both. She says the variety makes her better at each. Luna: That's a great note to end on. It's not about escaping your day job, it's about building something alongside it. Lucas: And if you're thinking about it, remember: you probably have skills that people will pay for, you just haven't framed them that way yet. Dana didn't for years. Once she did, everything changed. Luna: Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll see you next time.