Employment & Professional Networking Working therapists

[yak42]

Was wondering if any working therapist wanted to share how long after they first started their job as entry level did they feel fully confident..I just started my new job but I feel anxious and seems to be nervous all the time ..sharing experiences or words of encouragement would help!

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[gialuan]

I was feeling flustered on my first day because I was totally thrown in without any orientation. My first patient was a knee replacement who was able to tell me what she did with her old OT and slowly, the treatment ideas started coming back to me. Both my fieldworks were in hospitals, so I had a lot of experience. I didn't feel confident until my recruiter told me 4 days later that my supervisor was actually impressed and wanted to keep me as an ongoing OT.

I feel confident now with general debility and ortho patients because I've seen a lot of them. I'm not too too confident with CVAs because I haven't seen too many of them.

I've only been working for 3 months btw.

 

[resot]

I don't know if these next words will be a comfort or not, but when I was in school I remember one of my down to earth professors saying that when he first started as a therapist (working in peds, if it matters), it took at least 2 years before he started to feel confident as a therapist. And, if I remember correctly, it was at least five years before he was "fully confident."

Does your workplace offer any mentorship?

I'm less than a month into my first job. I'm definitely nervous when it comes to patients with diagnoses I haven't treated yet, but I wouldn't say that I go to work anxious each morning. It probably helps that I was hired at one of my level 2 FW sites, so I've got good relationships with my boss/coworkers, and they already know what level I am currently at and try not to overburden me (yet) with anyone super tricky unless they are around to give me a second opinion.