Oh, The Stress Of It All!

We've seen these lists before, but "Business Insider" crunched some old data and came up with a new ranking of the most stressful jobs. And with healthcare being such a big part of our local economy, this survey should catch a lot of people's attention. Here's the top ten.

1. Emergency dispatchers. That means police, fire, and ambulance. Their stress tolerance is 98.5 - that's a number from zero to 100 that measures how frequently you have to accept criticism, and deal with high stress on the job. Even worse - the average annual salary is only $39,410.

2. Nurse anesthetists. Sort of like an anesthesiologist, only you're not a doctor. The stress tolerance is 98.2, but the average annual salary jumps to $158,900.

3. Telephone operators. We think that means customer service reps and call center people. Probably because of all the ABUSE we give them, when we just want answers from a real human being. Stress tolerance 98.2 - average salary $39,350.

4. Dancers. Yeah, we all saw "Black Swan". The stress tolerance is 97. They didn't list a salary, but it's not like anyone does it for the money.

5. Obstetricians and gynecologists. Stress tolerance 96.5 - average annual salary $214,750.

6. Surgeons. We thought this would be higher too. But maybe they really ARE egotistical supermen, like they are on TV. Stress tolerance 96.2 - average annual salary $240,440.

7. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers. Stress tolerance 95.2 - average salary $131,760.

8. Healthcare social workers. The stress tolerance is 95 - the average annual salary is $53,590.

9. Phlebotomists. They're the people trained to draw blood from you for clinical or medical testing, transfusions, donations, or research. Stress tolerance 95 .- average salary $31,890.

10. News anchor. Stress tolerance 94.7 - average salary $84,380

So basically - DON'T go into healthcare unless you can deal with your stress, and other people's stress.