Top 10 Most Stressful Jobs in Healthcare (2024)

Here are the top 10 most stressful jobs in healthcare according to the Occupational Information Network.

10 | Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

Clinical and counseling psychologists assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. They see the full spectrum of mental illness from mild, short-term, personal issues to severe, chronic conditions and have a variety of tools to help patients overcome their problems.

Clinical and counseling psychologists can be found in a variety of settings including research, education, and training in addition to the more traditional clinical settings. Depending on your field of interest, you can also choose to focus on specific patient populations and become an expert in that area. Some popular fields include child psychology, couples and family psychology, and forensic psychology.

Although it can be rewarding to help patients overcome their mental health issues, patients in psychological or emotional distress can sometimes be difficult to manage. As such, it can sometimes feel like you have limited control over their outcomes. You can help guide them toward making better choices, but it’s ultimately up to them to make the necessary changes and improve their situation.

In terms of compensation, the average clinical and counseling psychologist earns approximately $83,000 per year.

To become a clinical psychologist, you must first earn your bachelor’s degree – typically in psychology or a related field. Depending on your specialization, you may be able to practice with only a bachelor’s degree; however, many will require a master’s or Ph.D. Most master’s programs are 2 years in duration and most Ph.D. programs last 3-7 years.

9 | Art Therapists

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses self-expression through techniques such as painting, drawing, or modeling to aid in a patient’s diagnosis or treatment.

Similar to clinical psychologists, art therapists often work with sensitive patients, such as those who have suffered abuse or who suffer from other emotional issues. As an art therapist, it’s easy to become emotionally invested in your patient’s success. Although this can be incredibly rewarding when your patient is progressing well, it can also be stressful when things don’t go as planned.

The average salary for art therapists is approximately $48,000 a year.

To become an art therapist, you must first earn your bachelor’s degree, preferably in a related field, followed by a master’s degree in art therapy. Art therapy programs are typically 2-3 years in duration and include coursework in psychological development, group therapy, art therapy assessment, research methods, and multicultural competency development, among others.

8 | Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses

Psychiatric nurse practitioners assess, diagnose, and treat patients with mental health disorders and/or substance abuse disorders, and often collaborate with psychiatrists and psychologists.

Similar to clinical psychologists and art therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners care for sensitive patients with complex mental health issues. Helping patients deal with their emotional distress on a daily basis can wear on a provider over time.

In terms of compensation, the average psychiatric nurse practitioner earns approximately $132,000 per year.

To become a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you must first earn your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN. This typically requires around 2 years of prerequisite coursework and 2-4 years of nursing school. After completing nursing school, you must earn a Master of Science in Nursing or a doctoral degree in Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing from an accredited nursing program, which generally takes two to three years.

7 | Patient Representatives

Patient representatives help coordinate care for patients. They have a variety of responsibilities including greeting patients upon arrival to their appointments, scheduling appointments, assisting patients with their paperwork, and coordinating clinical operations. Patient representatives are also responsible for administrative tasks like managing communications, verifying insurance coverage, and maintaining patient charts.

Because they are often the primary contact for patients, their jobs can often be stressful – especially when working with patients who aren’t satisfied with their healthcare services. The detail-oriented nature of their work, such as simultaneously coordinating care for many patients with various needs, can further add to this stress.

The median salary for patient representatives is approximately $46,000 a year.

Some patient representative positions will only require a high school diploma; however, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree is encouraged and preferred.

6 | Nurse Midwife

Nurse midwives are healthcare workers who specialize in women’s reproductive health and childbirth, providing care to women from adolescence to their menopausal years. They have various roles, including providing prenatal and postpartum care, educating new parents, supporting new breastfeeding mothers, performing preventive health screenings and tests, and more.

While the work that nurse midwives do can be very rewarding, it can also be particularly stressful at times due to the long and irregular hours. In addition, it’s not uncommon to see patients with high-risk pregnancies. Unfortunate birth outcomes will occur in this line of work, which can wear on even the most veteran nurse midwives.

In terms of compensation, the median salary for nurse midwives is approximately $113,000 per year.

The path to becoming a nurse midwife is similar to the advanced practice psychiatric nurse. First, you will need to complete your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, after which you will need to complete either your Master’s in Nursing or a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

5 | Nurse Anesthetists

Nurse anesthetists work with anesthesiologists and surgeons to ensure surgeries go smoothly. They help provide medications to patients during surgery and keep them asleep and pain-free, which allows the surgeons to operate safely.

Anesthesia can be especially stressful because of the possibility of high-risk situations. In the operating room, you’re administering drugs to put your patients to sleep for a set amount of time, and during that time you are constantly monitoring their vitals to make sure that they’re still within range. Although things rarely go wrong, when they do it’s often a life-or-death situation that involves making big decisions on the spot.

In addition, nurse anesthetists have gained increasing levels of autonomy in recent years. When you consider the fact that they don’t have the same level of knowledge, experience, or training as an anesthesiologist, it’s easy to see how having a similar level of responsibility can be stressful.

The average salary for nurse anesthetists is $194,000 per year.

Pursuing a career as a nurse anesthetist is somewhat similar to that of a nurse midwife or psychiatric nurse practitioner; however, there are a few differences. After receiving your BSN, you will need clinical experience as a registered nurse in critical care, usually by working in an intensive care or trauma unit. After that, you will need to complete a Doctor of Nursing Practice or a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program.

4 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists

OB/GYN doctors are responsible for the medical and surgical management of pregnancy and the female reproductive system. OB/GYNs see patients of all ages for all concerns related to pregnancy, well-woman exams, contraception, and more. Depending on your level of training, you can choose to tailor your practice to specific obstetric or gynecological subspecialties, such as urogynecology, gynecologic oncology, or infertility.

OB/GYN can be stressful because of the long hours and unpredictable call schedule which can lead to a challenging lifestyle. Unfortunate patient conditions like loss of pregnancy or cancer can also cause significant distress. In addition, among medical students and residents, OB/GYN is notorious for having somewhat of a malignant culture during residency.

In terms of compensation, the average OB/GYN earns $336,000 per year.

To become an OB/GYN, you must complete four years of college to earn your bachelor’s degree, followed by four more years of medical school. After medical school, OB/GYN residency is four years long, after which there are several optional two to three years programs for additional subspecialization.

3 | Acute Care Nurses

Acute care nurses provide care for critically ill patients in high-risk settings. This usually involves patients who have experienced severe disease or trauma, are pre- or post-operative, or suffer from other serious conditions.

They often work in trauma units, intensive care units, emergency rooms, or other high-acuity settings.

Due to the severity of the patients they treat, acute care nurses are often exposed to high levels of stress. They must constantly monitor their patients to ensure they remain stable and be ready to respond at a moment’s notice if unforeseen circ*mstances occur.

The average acute care nurse earns approximately $78,000 per year.

To become an acute care nurse, a degree in nursing is required, usually either an Associate Degree in Nursing or a BSN. Afterward, you need to pass your licensing exam to become a registered nurse.

2 | Anesthesiologist Assistants

Anesthesiologist assistants work as part of the anesthesia care team to ensure the patient’s safety before, during, and after surgical procedures. They have many responsibilities, some of which include preparing the patient for monitoring during the procedure, assisting with preparatory procedures, pre-testing and calibrating anesthesia systems and monitors, and assisting with life support when necessary.

They are exposed to a variety of stressful situations as a result of their high-risk nature of work. Ensuring the patient is under the right level of sedation and reacting to unpredictable life-threatening situations are especially important for everyone on the anesthesiology team.

In terms of compensation, the average anesthesiologist assistant earns approximately $122,000 a year.

To become an anesthesiologist assistant, you first need to complete four years of undergraduate training, preferably with some pre-medical curriculum. Afterward, you will need to complete a two-year master’s program for anesthesiology assistants.

1 | Urologists

Urologists are doctors who specialize in the urinary and genital systems. They deal with a wide variety of diseases, including kidney stones, infertility, bladder cancer, and more. As a urologist, you can choose to tailor your practice to deal with more specific diseases like urologic cancers, infertility, transplant urology, or something else.

Urology can be stressful for several reasons. One reason is because of the highly sensitive topics that urologists deal with including infertility, impotence, and incontinence. Urologists also see a variety of acute conditions such as trauma to the bladder or kidney, meaning they can be called upon at all hours of the day if necessary. In addition, the schedule of a urologist is often incredibly demanding – especially during residency. It’s not uncommon to hear of urology residents consistently working more than 80 hours per week.

In terms of compensation, urologists earn an average of $460,000 per year.

To become a urologist, you will need to finish four years of college followed by four years of medical school. After medical school, you will need to complete an additional 5-6 years of urology residency. After residency, there are many 1-2 year fellowship programs for those wishing to subspecialize further.

Now that we’ve reached the end of the list, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. Lists such as these are subject to significant limitations and should always be taken with a boulder of salt. They often rely on self-reporting and survey data which are incredibly susceptible to multiple types of bias.

Something as personal and subjective as stress is also difficult to quantify. Who’s to say that the stress one person experiences in one job is any more or less than the stress that someone experiences in another job? It’s heavily dependent on the individual and their particular stress tolerance.

Another factor to consider is whether a job is inherently stressful, or if it has more to do with the type of people it attracts. For instance, is art therapy itself stressful? Or does the field of art therapy attract people who are more susceptible to stress? It’s likely some level of both; however, it’s impossible to separate the two using this type of data.

Your level of training can also impact how stressful a job is. If you have a wealth of experience and training when you enter your field, you’re often less susceptible to overwhelming levels of stress and feeling out of control. This could partially explain why anesthesiologists may not be as stressed as CRNAs.

Although lists like this can be helpful in giving you different perspectives on a given specialty or profession, they are not the end-all-be-all. Choosing a career is an incredibly personal decision and what’s right for one person may not be right for you. It’s much more important to choose a career based on your own likes, dislikes, and interests.

If your dream is to get into medical school and become a urologist, gynecologist, or any other kind of doctor, check out the Med School Insiders Premed Roadmap to Medical School Acceptance course. We cover the nuances and details of how to be a stand-out premed, including course scheduling, extracurriculars beyond just scribing, research, common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid, and our tactics to securing full scholarships to top medical schools. This is the guide we wish we had back as premeds ourselves as it would have saved us from making countless mistakes.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our article on the Highest Paying Jobs in Healthcare.