I am just about at the end of a very long road of trying to change my profession.
No one seems to value occupation as an outcome. I refuse to see patient's with the purpose of improving UE function so my HH agency just calls other OT's who will. PT's don't appreciate occupation but it encroaches on their treatment. My agency is clueless about occupation and has no reason to learn about it. I so value what I do and I believe that most of my patient's do as well. Most of them can not articulate occupation or occupational therapy but they do know that I'm there to teach them two things: 1. How to take care of themselves 2. How to be productive I almost cried when I left my agency's staff meeting today. EVERTHING is about PT, PT, PT, and how wonderful they are. There must be like 15 PT's while there is only 3 OT's. It's really a sad state of affairs. I am tired of going from "hero to zero". Hero with patients and zero with my agency and other therapists. The other day a nurse with 24 years experience told a patient that OT was about small muscles and PT was about gait and large muscle groups. I promptly called the nurse and explained that OT is about occupation - i.e. take care of yourself and being productive. She said, that she didn't know and that even after all these years she really has no idea what OT does. She suggested that I call my agency and do an inservice. Now can you even imagine that a home health agency needs an inservice on the role of OT!! Sad state of affairs. Am I the ONLY OT who experiences and feel these emotions??????????????? Gosh, I hope not. But then on the other hand, maybe it's just me. Maybe I just refuse to accept the way things are. Maybe I'm just a self-centered egotist who is totally clueless about OT. I truly, truly don't understand WHY "things" are the way they are. And more importantly, what can be done, if anything, to change the direction of UE physical dysfunction OT. -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
