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Healthcare Social Workers

Typical education: Master's degreeHigh pressure Bright Outlook

What they do

Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

Kinds of work

  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.
  • Investigative: Science, research, figuring out how things work and solving complex problems.

High pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $67,880 Median per year · $32.63/hr Most earn $46,220–$100,360

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
  • Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients' status.
  • Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
  • Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.
  • Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
  • Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.

Job outlook

Bright Outlook Rapid Growth

United States
9% more jobs by 2035, much faster than average · about 16,900 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • General medical and surgical hospitals25.4%
  • Home healthcare services13.7%
  • Services for the elderly and persons with disabilities7.7%
  • Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)7.2%
  • Offices of physicians5.5%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: Master's degreeExperience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Healthcare social work is not an entry-level job. Most people need a master's degree and some related work experience first, so plan on roughly 6 or more years of school and work after high school. The good news is that you can start building toward it right away.

  1. Bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, or a related field

    4 years

    You learn how people, families, and communities work, and you can often volunteer or intern in a helping setting while you study.

  2. Social and Human Service Assistant

    1-2 years

    You support social workers and clients directly, which builds the hands-on experience that graduate programs and employers look for.

  3. Master of Social Work (MSW)

    2 years

    Graduate study adds advanced counseling skills and a supervised field placement, usually in a hospital or clinic, which is the training needed for healthcare social work.

  4. Healthcare Social Worker

    Ongoing

    You help patients and families cope with serious illness, connect them to services, and advise caregivers, often working in hospitals, hospices, or home health agencies.

Where it can lead

  1. Lead Social Worker

    3-5 years of experience first

    You take on more complex cases, train newer staff, and guide care decisions on your unit, which usually means strong clinical skills and a good record with patients and teams.

  2. Director of Social Work

    5-10 years of experience first

    You manage the social work department, set policies and budgets, and represent social work in hospital leadership, which requires management experience and often additional leadership training.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take psychology, sociology, or health classesThese courses introduce you to how people, families, and illness affect one another, which is the core of this work.
  • Volunteer at a hospital, nursing home, or hospiceSeeing healthcare settings firsthand shows you what the job looks like and helps you decide if it fits you.
  • Join a debate, speech, or peer helper clubPractice listening, explaining ideas clearly, and supporting classmates, all of which are everyday skills for social workers.
  • Get a part-time job in customer service or tutoringWorking with different people builds patience, communication, and problem-solving skills that carry into social work.
  • Ask a school counselor or social worker for an informational interviewHearing about their day-to-day work and training path gives you realistic information about the career.

In college

  • Major in social work or psychology, and take a research methods courseA social work or psychology major is the most common route to an MSW, and research skills help you understand evidence-based care.
  • Take a health or medical sociology courseLearning how illness, insurance, and access to care affect people prepares you for the healthcare side of social work.
  • Volunteer or intern at a hospital, hospice, or community health organizationHands-on time in a healthcare setting builds experience and gives you references for graduate school.
  • Get a campus job in a student support office, residence life, or peer counselingThese roles build the listening, crisis response, and referral skills used every day in social work.
  • Look into a Social and Human Service Assistant job after graduationThis entry-level role gives you paid experience that strengthens your MSW applications and helps you learn the field.

Tips for getting started

  • Get experience in a helping setting now, such as volunteering, peer support, or a part-time job, and pay attention to which parts you enjoy most.
  • Look for MSW programs that offer field placements in healthcare settings, since that is the experience hospitals usually want.
  • Build comfort with difficult conversations and teamwork, because healthcare social workers talk with people in hard moments and coordinate with doctors and nurses every day.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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