Occupational therapy vs mental health nursing

[crazycrofter]

Could anyone give me some pros and cons in relation to these two options - I’d like to hear about what’s involved in the degree courses and also what it’s like once qualified.

Dd is in year 12, bright (all 8s and 9s last year) but also has a tendency to get overwhelmed with too much homework. Shes quite a slow worker. She’s academically able but not academically inclined, if that makes sense? She’s very empathetic, friendships have always been her highest priority and she’s fairly certain she wants to work in a caring role.

Having been around mental health problems and suffered a little herself, at the moment she likes the idea of working in a mental health setting (possibly with teenagers).

I’ve looked into it a bit and there seems to be a fair bit of overlap between the two professions when it comes to mental health, so she’s thinking she could do either route and possibly end up in the same place.

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/allied-health-professionals/roles-allied-health-professions/occupational-therapist

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/mental-health-nurse

Thanks, we’ve looked at those, I was just wondering if anyone had experience of either degree course or working life once qualified.

Hi crazy ! .

Apologies but I can't recall if your DD is musical/arty /crafty. OT used to pejoratively be called basket weaving but it honestly is a great career if you have craft and art skills.

My DM was an OT working with adolescents in a secure MH institution for a while.

She was less 'well qualified' than the MH nurses but her job was less stressful, less pressurised and ,as a result, less troubling to her. I think MH nurses need to be really rhino skinned.

Nursing is very clinical and making tough decisions. OT feels like really working to heal and help in a different way.

DISCLAIMER : I know lots about OT and v little about MH nursing.

Thanks Piggy, she’s primarily a people person, A Levels are History, RS and Psychology, but I’d say she’s also quite creative.

I’m trying to gather as much info as I can to advise her. She trusts my advice so i need to be informed! Your input is really helpful.

OT for lifestyle, no shifts/nights/weekends (mainly) ,less stress/responsibility.

I'm an ot but in a physical setting.

In general OT the shifts are more sociable and it is less pressurised. However depends if that's ward or community, in community a lot of the roles are care coordination and very similar.

I worked as an OT on an active MH ward and tbh I found it difficult to work very therapeutically as the patients were just too unwell but there's a huge range of inpatient and community settings.

In general I think OT is a fab career as one degree gives the potential to work in a wide range of settings physical, MH, paeds, learning disabilities, neuro and non statutory settings including private opportunities.

I would vote OT rather than mental health nursing and I say that as an RMN. My experience is inpatient services so try post is based on that. Community based OT’s can take on a similar role to RMN’s as lead practitioners.

More sociable hours, less overall responsibility and with that less risk.

The nurses take on full responsibility for all the patients and everything lands on the nursing team, the OT’s are much more intervention lead and don’t have the overall stress and ludicrous workload the nurses do IME.

I think OT is an amazing profession and we can’t work without them but it isn’t as stressful IMO. I wish with all my heart I had been an OT rather than a nurse.

I’ve been an RMN 20 years and I really am done with it.

Healthcare academic here and one thing to consider is that OT programmes are more competitive to get into than MH nursing. So OT is likely to ask for better grades and more experience. That's largely a a result of there being less places available for OT programmes compared to nursing rather than anything else.

Another thing to think about is the amount of placement hours in OT programmes is around a third of which all nursing programmes require.

I am an OT and qualified quite recently. I work in physical but did MH placements on locked wards. I agree with the person above who said pts can be too unwell to do a lot with in acute MH wards. I did enjoy it though and there were some great groups. Chaotic environment though.

OT is overall great but it is misunderstood amd not always respected. Many OT are now expected to work 7 days and long days.
The placements were about 30 percent of the degree compared to nursings 50 percent. Sometimes I struggled with the move towards theory and lack of hands on practical and anatomy. It was more psychology based. I have had to learn much myself. . With it being so broad I am not sure I feel expertise in much yet but as I mentioned I am band 5 NQ.
I do enjoy it and there seem to be plentiful jobs going currently. I did consider nursing but the hours and shifts made it impossible with childcare etc. I wouldn't have been able to be up to an hour and a half away for a 7am start which is what the course leader said we had to.

OT definitely! So much you can do with OT. Rehab, ward work, peads, social care, industry- occupational health, learning disability, end of life, home adaptations, sports for confidence, just loads to choose from.

Thanks for the advice, I’ve been leaning towards OT but it’s obviously not my decision in the end. Academically she should be ok, I’ve looked and most unis seem to ask for 3xB. She’s on course for higher than that. Unis are also saying they don’t expect work experience because of the pandemic. Which is a shame because she’d really benefit from some.

Speech therapy has also been mentioned but I’m not sure whether to throw that into the mix!

Speech and language therapy? The role of it in mental health is increasing and if you want a bunch of people people - a room full of speechies is the very definition of it!

Huge psychology element on my course too (I love my course)

I'm a mental health nurse, qualified 20 years ago ( so diploma, not degree course ) whilst I love my job and now work in a women's trauma informed therapy unit. I left the NHS as the work became unbearable due to underfunding and bureaucratic nonsense over all. I don't think I would choose nursing in today's climate, and would definitely pick an OT route if I was your DD.

OT or SLT might be better for standard hours and chance to become band 6 or 7.
Nursing gives you the opportunity to pick up extra shifts to top up income eg to pay for holidays/home improvements.
Overtime isn’t possible as an OT/SLT.

SLT here and there are lots of opportunities for overtime either through taking on bank shifts through the NHS or going through an agency or independent SLT provider. The days of therapies only being provided by the NHS are long gone. I've had two phone calls this week from agencies and I'm not currently looking for a job/additional hours.

There is also scope for taking on private clients for which the pay is a lot more lucrative.

OT is generally much slower paced than nursing. OT covers a wide range of care, whereas mental health nursing focuses purely on the mentally unwell.

I would go for nursing every time because I prefer the faster paced, more challenging role.

@Druidlookingidiot I was a student nurse at one time and I often think that I would prefer that fast paced style of working. I miss the running around!

I also like fast paced - I worked for 18 years in a big 4 accountancy firm! But my daughter is nothing like me, she's quite a slow perfectionist type and would want to give everyone enough time and attention. I think she'd probably find nursing quite stressful. She's very like her dad; he was discouraged from going into SALT by his dad ('women's work' and all that) and went into teaching instead - and found the pace horrendous! And this was after first trying dentistry, which was also totally wrong for him. So I want to guide dd in the right direction..

My niece is a second year paediatric nurse and is loving her course. Less challenging then adult nursing and has had some very interesting placements not had any stress so far😃. Its easy to get into the psychiatric side her friend is on the bank at an eating disorder unit for children. Plenty of scope to make extra money and shifts can fit in with family life if you dont mind nights. Im coming to the end of my nursing career and have no regrets.

It's true, SLT is very much female dominated. Even now, there are often entire cohorts of 50 students without any male students whatsoever! Unsurprisingly, men tend to rise up the ranks quicker.

If SLT is of any interest, I'm happy to offer any guidance I can.

It took me a while to get to SLT. I was a student nurse for a while then applied to study medicine. I managed to get a place somehow and then in some fit of madness, decided to turn it down at the last minute and here I am.

Thank you, I will try to get her to engage a bit on the subject then I might come back to you with more questions!

crazycrofter, there is an occupational therapy virtual work experience session by Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Trust on Youtube from 1 week ago. Its only an hour long and might be useful for your DD?
I haven't watched it yet but have bookmarked it to watch with my DD. I think we are looking at similar courses and you were kind enough to comment on my recent psychology thread .

Another vote for OT.

What about physio?