13 answers
Emmanuel
Student
Paterson, New Jersey
1
Question
Updated
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what is the hardest part of working in healthcare?
what is the hardest part of this profession
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13 answers
Sonya Tuerff
Vascular surgeon
1
Answer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Updated
Sonya’s Answer
The hardest part of working in healthcare is seeing people suffer. It’s worse when you have done all you can but it hasn’t made much difference.
But, helping others is also the best feeling in the world. The knowledge that you have given of yourself in big and small ways gives you an inner peace and satisfaction that is hard to describe. Also, putting your knowledge to work is also really fun!
But, helping others is also the best feeling in the world. The knowledge that you have given of yourself in big and small ways gives you an inner peace and satisfaction that is hard to describe. Also, putting your knowledge to work is also really fun!
Constance Pielow
Registered nurse
5
Answers
Davenport, Iowa
Updated
Constance’s Answer
For me, the hardest parts are are how physically mentally and emotionally draining it can be and dealing with the disrespect from the employers and disrespect and attacks from patients and thirty family.
Bhavna Sheth
107
Answers
Collinsville, Virginia
Updated
Bhavna’s Answer
The hardest part of working in healthcare is the physical and emotional strain that can come with caring for sick and injured patients. It is a demanding profession that requires a high level of dedication, skill, and compassion. In addition, long and irregular hours, heavy workloads, and dealing with ethical and legal issues can be difficult to manage. As a healthcare professional, you will have to learn how to juggle all of these components while maintaining the highest level of patient care.
jennifer chou
acupuncturist, hypnotist, teacher
9
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
jennifer’s Answer
There are many challenges that healthcare professionals may face in their work. Some of the hardest aspects of working in healthcare can include:
Dealing with high levels of stress: Healthcare professionals often work in high-stress environments where they are required to make quick decisions and handle complex and emotionally charged situations. This can take a toll on their mental and physical health.
Coping with long and irregular hours: Many healthcare professionals work long hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays. This can be difficult to manage and can lead to burnout and fatigue.
Managing patient care: Providing high-quality care to patients can be challenging, especially when dealing with difficult or complex cases. It can be emotionally and physically demanding to provide care to patients who are suffering or in need of support.
Managing the financial and administrative aspects of healthcare: Healthcare professionals may also face challenges related to the financial and administrative aspects of their work, such as dealing with insurance companies, managing budgets, and complying with regulations.
Dealing with the emotional demands of the job: Healthcare professionals often work with patients and families who are going through difficult and emotionally charged situations. This can be emotionally draining and can take a toll on the mental health of healthcare professionals.
These are just a few examples of the challenges that healthcare professionals may face in their work. Working in healthcare can be rewarding, but it can also be physically and emotionally demanding.
Dealing with high levels of stress: Healthcare professionals often work in high-stress environments where they are required to make quick decisions and handle complex and emotionally charged situations. This can take a toll on their mental and physical health.
Coping with long and irregular hours: Many healthcare professionals work long hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays. This can be difficult to manage and can lead to burnout and fatigue.
Managing patient care: Providing high-quality care to patients can be challenging, especially when dealing with difficult or complex cases. It can be emotionally and physically demanding to provide care to patients who are suffering or in need of support.
Managing the financial and administrative aspects of healthcare: Healthcare professionals may also face challenges related to the financial and administrative aspects of their work, such as dealing with insurance companies, managing budgets, and complying with regulations.
Dealing with the emotional demands of the job: Healthcare professionals often work with patients and families who are going through difficult and emotionally charged situations. This can be emotionally draining and can take a toll on the mental health of healthcare professionals.
These are just a few examples of the challenges that healthcare professionals may face in their work. Working in healthcare can be rewarding, but it can also be physically and emotionally demanding.
Brianna C., MS, SLP
Speech language pathology
148
Answers
Nashville, Tennessee
Updated
Brianna’s Answer
Working in health care as a speech language pathologist is challenging and rewarding, but it can be highly stressful. You're working with many people who are having the worst time of their life (they or someone they love has had a stroke, or major life changing injuries, or is experiencing symptoms od dementia, etc.), and you have to be able to navigate that professionally and compassionately in the moment without taking home all that stress with you. There's also the matter of working outside of working hours researching and planning therapy sessions, etc.
Kim Khoo
Medical student
5
Answers
Sugar Land, Texas
Updated
Kim’s Answer
The hardest part of working in healthcare is perhaps the delayed gratification, knowing that you will work in a job that is often thankless. For many healthcare careers, at minimum, you'll be going through an undergraduate degree, and then add on at least 1+ more years of schooling. If you decide to pursue medicine in the United States, that's 4 years of undergraduate university, 3-4 years of graduate school training, then 3-7 years of post-MD/DO residency training. All throughout this training, you are putting in hours of work: studying when others are traveling, putting off life events like buying a house or having a baby because you're making little to no money in medical school or residency, taking call shifts or working overtime because patients will not get care without you. And then, even after all is said and done and you finally become a nurse, doctor, SLP, physical therapist, whatever, you work at a job where you expect nothing in return.
That said, we don't do the job for money, glory, or recognition. We go into healthcare because we want to positively impact people's lives, and we want to do that with kindness and gratitude. Healthcare is indeed a thankless job that comes after a long, tenuous journey. But in the end, working at a job where you feel like you have a higher purpose and that you are making a positive difference in people's lives...that's what makes it worth it!
That said, we don't do the job for money, glory, or recognition. We go into healthcare because we want to positively impact people's lives, and we want to do that with kindness and gratitude. Healthcare is indeed a thankless job that comes after a long, tenuous journey. But in the end, working at a job where you feel like you have a higher purpose and that you are making a positive difference in people's lives...that's what makes it worth it!
Bether Gerber
family nurse practitioner
24
Answers
Tucson, Arizona
Updated
Bether’s Answer
the hardest parts of health care as a nurse is how physically and emotionally demanding it is. as a doctor it's emotionally demanding and somewhat physically demanding depending on what you choose. both have very long hours. the charting sucks too. if i were you, i would consider being a nurse practitioner. they don't have to work as hard as nurses and make more money than nurses. (at least before the pandemic). although they make less money than doctors, they can get a lot more time off than a doctor. so if you want to be a mom or have a family, it's great. the best part of being a nurse or a nurse practitioner is that the patients spend a lot of time telling you they love you and appreciate you. and the pay and flexibility are great.
good luck!
good luck!
Paris Lara, CMA
Medical Assistant
1
Answer
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Updated
Paris’s Answer
As a Medical Assistant, the hardest part for me is when you simply don’t have the resources to help a patient in need.
I worked in Addiction Medicine and so much of the cause for substance use disorder was related to societal stressors (food insecurity, lack of housing, low income) and as a medical clinic, we were not equipped to deal with some of these issues, especially lack of affordable housing in our community. These were issues that were too large to be addressed by a small team of healthcare professionals.
The worst part of this is having to let patients know, that we’ve explored every resource available in the community, but unfortunately society is just not at a point of compassion and care to want to help individuals with public housing and assistance to meet the demands that it is needed at.
Sometimes we were able to meet the needs of our patients, for example, we opened our own food pantry for our patients, we collected clothing to help our patients that needed clothing to wear daily or for interviews. However, other issues that lead our patients to substance use in the first place such as lack of housing or poverty, were just too big for us to address and resources too limited.
Having to tell your patient that you’ve exhausted the resources, and expecting them to somehow be able to heal and lead a healthy life, was absolutely maddening and emotionally taxing.
Going home everyday at 5p to have dinner and sleep in a bed, knowing that some of your patients were out in the cold streets is devastating.
I worked in Addiction Medicine and so much of the cause for substance use disorder was related to societal stressors (food insecurity, lack of housing, low income) and as a medical clinic, we were not equipped to deal with some of these issues, especially lack of affordable housing in our community. These were issues that were too large to be addressed by a small team of healthcare professionals.
The worst part of this is having to let patients know, that we’ve explored every resource available in the community, but unfortunately society is just not at a point of compassion and care to want to help individuals with public housing and assistance to meet the demands that it is needed at.
Sometimes we were able to meet the needs of our patients, for example, we opened our own food pantry for our patients, we collected clothing to help our patients that needed clothing to wear daily or for interviews. However, other issues that lead our patients to substance use in the first place such as lack of housing or poverty, were just too big for us to address and resources too limited.
Having to tell your patient that you’ve exhausted the resources, and expecting them to somehow be able to heal and lead a healthy life, was absolutely maddening and emotionally taxing.
Going home everyday at 5p to have dinner and sleep in a bed, knowing that some of your patients were out in the cold streets is devastating.
Dana Arias
Director of Health and Wellness/Registered nurse
2
Answers
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Updated
Dana’s Answer
The hardest part of Healthcare is the expectation of "perfection " most patients and families expect to have optimal outcomes. Many times the staff are deemed at fault when an outcome is not as expected, regardless of what interventions were attempted to achieve the best possible outcome. Although this is a common emotional reaction, many times it feels personal. You have to be self confident in both your nursing ability and in yourself.
Aisha Taylor
Mortgage Closing Specialist
364
Answers
Detroit, Michigan
Updated
Aisha’s Answer
Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is related to burnout, a syndrome caused by overworking that results in physical and emotional symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, and frequent illness. Compassion fatigue specifically is when people like caregivers feel indifference to their patients. It can be devastating to a person who is typically empathetic, but there are ways to recognize and treat compassion fatigue by incorporating self-care into your daily routine.
Bad Outcomes
Clinicians will see patients receive bad outcomes, like a terminal diagnosis, complications from surgery, or preparations for end-of-life care. After developing relationships with patients, any bad outcome can be difficult for a medical professional to deal with. They devote their lives to helping people on their worst days, and to see that someone won’t recover is one of the hardest challenges of working in health care.
Financial Burdens
Health care professionals are bound by an oath to take care of any person in need of medical attention despite their financial situation. It can be hard as a clinician or an administrator when a patient is hesitant to receive much-needed care or refuses care solely because they can’t afford it.
Medical offices can train staff to help guide patients to the appropriate places to seek financial aid and counseling, both through the medical system they’re affiliated with or a social welfare office.
Rude Patients
Health care workers are seeing people on what could be one of the worst days of their life. Being in pain, scared, or confused can make some patients rude or even aggressive. They might lash out, but it’s always important to understand how powerless they feel after receiving a diagnosis or even how frustrated they are at the lack of a diagnosis. Always show empathy for their situation.
While setting boundaries, you can help patients understand a treatment by explaining it to them or directing them to the next steps.
Compassion fatigue is related to burnout, a syndrome caused by overworking that results in physical and emotional symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, and frequent illness. Compassion fatigue specifically is when people like caregivers feel indifference to their patients. It can be devastating to a person who is typically empathetic, but there are ways to recognize and treat compassion fatigue by incorporating self-care into your daily routine.
Bad Outcomes
Clinicians will see patients receive bad outcomes, like a terminal diagnosis, complications from surgery, or preparations for end-of-life care. After developing relationships with patients, any bad outcome can be difficult for a medical professional to deal with. They devote their lives to helping people on their worst days, and to see that someone won’t recover is one of the hardest challenges of working in health care.
Financial Burdens
Health care professionals are bound by an oath to take care of any person in need of medical attention despite their financial situation. It can be hard as a clinician or an administrator when a patient is hesitant to receive much-needed care or refuses care solely because they can’t afford it.
Medical offices can train staff to help guide patients to the appropriate places to seek financial aid and counseling, both through the medical system they’re affiliated with or a social welfare office.
Rude Patients
Health care workers are seeing people on what could be one of the worst days of their life. Being in pain, scared, or confused can make some patients rude or even aggressive. They might lash out, but it’s always important to understand how powerless they feel after receiving a diagnosis or even how frustrated they are at the lack of a diagnosis. Always show empathy for their situation.
While setting boundaries, you can help patients understand a treatment by explaining it to them or directing them to the next steps.
Yousra Bakry
Family medicine physician
1
Answer
Taif, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia
Updated
Yousra’s Answer
First of all the hardest yhat you must be concentrate all the time one mistake may causes a disaster for a person. Secondly, there isn't a large space for your social life, as your time outside work is a large part of it devoted to continuing education and obtaining the largest amount of certificates and clinical development, but what is interesting is the look of gratitude in the eyes of patients, and it deserves everything
Caroline Schmidt
Pediatric and neonatal Occupational therapist
13
Answers
Updated
Caroline’s Answer
Healthcare is a rewarding and challenging field. Demands form insurance companies, other team members and managers has changed the nature of the field and the way care is provided. It can be mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. Helping others who are desperate need is a unique opportunity and can be fulfilling but also draining to your personal life if you don’t have a good work life balance
Alexa Dzubak
Dental assistant
75
Answers
Carmel, New York
Updated
Alexa’s Answer
Well, it’s a lot of hard work, you basically have to be on point all of the time with little room for error ( in most cases), exhaustion mentally and physically from the day, dealing with a variety of emotions from patients and yourself. It’s a rewarding job, you get to change lives, but boy is it hard!