Bill, My experience is a mirror reflection of yours. I was so fed up with working my tail off in nursing homes, doing absolutely terrific therapy and spending tons of time thinking out of the box while chasing my tail in circles to meet my quotas that I burned out too. When I finally returned I insisted on working only PRN as a contract therapist (with my OWN contract). I explained that I don't waste a single minute but that I would be billing for all of my time so don't waste it with extra paperwork or cleaning the therapy room unless you want to pay a therapist's wage to have the work done. (Fortunately, my husband has the benefits so I could do this.) We just decided that we were going to do therapy our way (my husband was an OT at the time) and that was the way it was. I talked to administration-types and was very up front with my focus and if my way of doing therapy didn't jive with their ideas, I didn't take the job. I have had to bounce around from time to time as administration changed but in the end, I felt great about sticking to my morals. I often ended up working in high need areas where an OT was hard to find. Once they got me in their facilities, they were thrilled with the patient's progress and the family's satisfaction (as compared with the contract companies who had breezed in and out and left the patients with a sense of "what did I just spend the last hour doing that would help me get better?" I now work in a different field within OT and have only self-induced pressure. I make sure I'm making a profit or breaking even for my employer each month and everyone is happy. The high pressure, money chasing life just wasn't for me. Jenny
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