Occupational therapy vs Adult nursing???

[chloe3215]

My DD would like to do occupational therapy or adult nursing at univeristy.
I told her it is her choice but she is still unsure about which one to choose.
I know that there are more jobs in nursing than ot.
Any help or suggestions would be grateful :)

OT!!!!!!!!!

I live daily regret that I didnt do OT. There are so many interesting vacancies in our local Trust for OT.

I'm just saying adult nursing, you basically live at the hospital, you are an unpaid pair of hands, you have some amazing moments where you know you made a real difference- I remember so many pts and their families even 15 yes later, but it swallows up your life like almost nothing else.

My friends on other degrees had reading weeks and summer breaks - we just needed a wee that we never got time for, and never got lunch breaks, nevermind anything else!

I'm a nurse over 30 years. It's highly pressured, I've just left as in my late 40s I'm wrecked, covid finished me off. I'm teaching now and it's much better. I would say if it's a choice between the 2 OT all the way, better life work balance and not as pressured to get a million things done at once. I don't think nursing will suit someone with ASD, the lack of control over your day would be too much I'd imagine

Don’t get me wrong the do a wonderful job, but it relentless and stressful.

This nurses are under huge pressure and I would say more so as patients are often critical and some of the decision making is left to the nurses. I think you are in a dangerous position often unless you work some where like outpatients but the wards are another story. When I see some of the young nurses.. I think I wouldn't want that level of responsibility at that age.

@Immaculatemisconception

I looked into both careers and chose nursing. Occupational Therapy didn't offer me the challenges I wanted. It's a very slow moving career, whereas in nursing there are many areas where every day had the challenges I wanted. In my career I have worked on wards, in theatres and theatre recovery. Theatre recovery was brilliant, as you never knew which patient you would be caring for next and I liked that. On the ward, if you were the designated ward for admissions, it was exciting.

It all depends what floats your boat.

Thank you :) Glad to hear from a nurse that wanted to be a nurse. Hope you enjoy what you do. She is a perfectionist so OT I think would be more suited to her

I think something like 1 in 7 (maybe more) OTs are neuro diverse. It’s a good career for someone who thinks a little differently.

@Whereismylatte

OT!!!!!!!!!

I live daily regret that I didnt do OT. There are so many interesting vacancies in our local Trust for OT.

I'm just saying adult nursing, you basically live at the hospital, you are an unpaid pair of hands, you have some amazing moments where you know you made a real difference- I remember so many pts and their families even 15 yes later, but it swallows up your life like almost nothing else.

My friends on other degrees had reading weeks and summer breaks - we just needed a wee that we never got time for, and never got lunch breaks, nevermind anything else!

Honestly you nurses are amazing and do a great job. I would agree that they are underpaid - I think OT would be good but the career prospects are not as good as nursing at the minute...

@chloe3215
I did a degree in an unrelated field and then worked as an assistant social worker for a few years before doing a masters in OT.

It's a profession which lots of people don't really understand and that can be frustrating but I love the autonomy and creativity I can use to collaboratively plan treatment plans with patients. I work in an MDT team and a lot of the nurses are very frustrated by their workloads and the constant pressure.

Also work out how she feels about blood gunk and bodily fluids! Sounds obvious but most of our nurses seem to love a wound and discussing treatments plans looking at photos, it makes me queasy!

@badgerswitharms

Ime OT is a separate 3 yr undergrad BSc, and in my area, a nursing degree isn't transferrable to OT roles (there's no short course top-up route or anything) believe me I've looked

@moanyhole

I'm a nurse over 30 years. It's highly pressured, I've just left as in my late 40s I'm wrecked, covid finished me off. I'm teaching now and it's much better. I would say if it's a choice between the 2 OT all the way, better life work balance and not as pressured to get a million things done at once. I don't think nursing will suit someone with ASD, the lack of control over your day would be too much I'd imagine

I agree with you. I think OT would be good for her. Glad to hear that you are doing something you enjoy now :)

Ah, sorry @badgerswitharms! Yes occie health nursing is a nurse with a qualification... usually SCPHN.... sorry! Never MN without glasses on.

@BunNcheese

Don’t get me wrong the do a wonderful job, but it relentless and stressful.

This nurses are under huge pressure and I would say more so as patients are often critical and some of the decision making is left to the nurses. I think you are in a dangerous position often unless you work some where like outpatients but the wards are another story. When I see some of the young nurses.. I think I wouldn't want that level of responsibility at that age.

That is so true. Nursing is hard and stressful - that is why so many people quit after doing it

@chloe3215
Sorry to spam you - why do you say job opportunities aren't as good? You say she doesn't want to progress so there are kids of job opportunities for OTs at the moment. They can work in acute physical, mental health and community roles as well as adult social care and a wide range of third sector roles as a newly qualified. There are also rotational roles where you get a range of opportunities. There won't be the same number of jobs but that's because there is a fraction of the graduates each year compared to nursing.

This is the NHS, every new graduate gets a job, there's more jobs than staff!

[quote badgerswitharms]@chloe3215
I did a degree in an unrelated field and then worked as an assistant social worker for a few years before doing a masters in OT.

It's a profession which lots of people don't really understand and that can be frustrating but I love the autonomy and creativity I can use to collaboratively plan treatment plans with patients. I work in an MDT team and a lot of the nurses are very frustrated by their workloads and the constant pressure.

Also work out how she feels about blood gunk and bodily fluids! Sounds obvious but most of our nurses seem to love a wound and discussing treatments plans looking at photos, it makes me queasy! [/quote]
Thank you :)
I agree with you that nurses are under so much pressure.
I think she is okay with bodily fluids but not with injections.
I think OT would be a good profession for her.

[quote Whereismylatte]@badgerswitharms

Ime OT is a separate 3 yr undergrad BSc, and in my area, a nursing degree isn't transferrable to OT roles (there's no short course top-up route or anything) believe me I've looked [/quote]
You can do postgraduate degree in nursing I believe.
Unfortuntely not :(

[quote badgerswitharms]@chloe3215
Sorry to spam you - why do you say job opportunities aren't as good? You say she doesn't want to progress so there are kids of job opportunities for OTs at the moment. They can work in acute physical, mental health and community roles as well as adult social care and a wide range of third sector roles as a newly qualified. There are also rotational roles where you get a range of opportunities. There won't be the same number of jobs but that's because there is a fraction of the graduates each year compared to nursing.

This is the NHS, every new graduate gets a job, there's more jobs than staff! [/quote]
I know that in nursing there are more jobs but I guess it makes sense that there is a fraction of the graduates for OT than nursing.
I think DD wants a hospital based job (not really community or rotational) so I think them sort of jobs are hard to come by.
She wants to learn to drive but may find it hard and difficult to do so hospital roles would be more appropriate for her :)

There’s lots of staff shortages in OT. They can’t fill the vacancies. There are lots of jobs. I know several OTs and they are all glad they picked the career they did.

I would recommend OT in the current climate. They are very much in demand (we have a vacancy at work which we can't recruit to) and there's a lot of potential for a good career. You have professional responsibility for your practice but it is not 24/7 demanding like nursing.

@badgerswitharms

Honestly - they are very different. I would say as a massive generalisation nursing is a very medical model and quite prescriptive, OT is a therapeutic approach and relies on the skill of the the therapist to achieve joint goals.

OT definitely has better work life balance and shifts etc. But probably less scope to work at higher clinical bands. If she wants a higher banded job in a clinical field I'd advise nursing.

Ots are also dual trained so can work in physical and mental health (and increasingly in 3rd sector).

I'm an OT and I love it, but I'm now frustrated that clinical jobs beyond band 7 are not really available for OTs in the same way they are for nurses and physios.

There is work being done for further roles for allied health professionals to move up to band 7, so for example matron/management roles. I don't know what possibilities there would be clinically for an OT as I don't know enough about there roles but I agree with pp that the approach to patient care and treatment will be more akin to the patient's requirements rather than the medical model that is usually adhered to in nursing. There is a lot of autonomy in the Allied Health professions. There is scope for professional clinical development in nursing but that would come later in her career.

It really depends on her personality and what her.

Social work pays better

New graduate OTs usually start off in a hospital so no driving would be necessary but they are usually rotational through the different areas, eg acute medicine, orthopaedics, stroke, rehab. There are more vacancies than applicants. I retired but keep getting asked to return to help out as they can't fill posts or cover maternity leaves. I've joked more than once that they need to only accept post menopausal applicants......... But apparently that's not allowed🙄🤷 (joke in case anybody takes that the wrong way, I have a habit of getting myself in trouble with my sense of humour😂)

@daisypond

There’s lots of staff shortages in OT. They can’t fill the vacancies. There are lots of jobs. I know several OTs and they are all glad they picked the career they did.

Thank you! That is good to know. I hope that will continue to be the case for when my daughter finishes uni.

@cocktailclub

I would recommend OT in the current climate. They are very much in demand (we have a vacancy at work which we can't recruit to) and there's a lot of potential for a good career. You have professional responsibility for your practice but it is not 24/7 demanding like nursing.

Thank you! I agree with you - OT seems nicer and less demanding.

@Mossstitch

New graduate OTs usually start off in a hospital so no driving would be necessary but they are usually rotational through the different areas, eg acute medicine, orthopaedics, stroke, rehab. There are more vacancies than applicants. I retired but keep getting asked to return to help out as they can't fill posts or cover maternity leaves. I've joked more than once that they need to only accept post menopausal applicants......... But apparently that's not allowed🙄🤷 (joke in case anybody takes that the wrong way, I have a habit of getting myself in trouble with my sense of humour😂)

Hopefully DD will end up as an OT in a hospital if that is what she wants. I have looked at vacancies and all of them that I have seen require you to drive even ones in hospitals.

Def OT. I am one. A lot of nurses have said to me that they wish they'd done OT. Most of the upper level management in my area of work are OTs. I have pretty much had my pick of jobs and continue to be encouraged to apply for various posts. Might apply for a management post down the line but at the minute I enjoy my clinical work. Plus it fits easily around family life.

@chloe3215 there are several Therapists at my hospital that don't drive. I think that on the job description it is probably under 'desired' but not obligatory and would certainly not put off the interviewer if they thought they were a good candidate. When I did the course 20 years ago there was a 25% shortfall of OTs (not physios as that seems to be more popular for reasons which I've never managed to fathom) which was one of the reasons I chose it as had children and needed to guarantee a job at the end of 3 years living off savings and part time work. If anything there is now even more of a shortfall and very few applicants for vacancies. 👍