Other OT-Related Information OTA and PT questions

[PsychadelicTech]

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Hi, I have worked in psych for 4 to 5 year's. Do love my job can be mentally exhausting and wanting to drag your feet to work days. I facilitate groups, set up care plans, interview patients, and chart. Also add in CNA work EKGS, blood work, vitals, tolieting, assisting with ADLS, and ROM.

I am in the midst of taking my nursing prerequisites. I do and don't want to be a nurse. Doing it more for the financial gain and stability. With my current job only make $23 am hour, but no full time opportunity and outside at other employers can make from $10 am hour to $20 an hour not much consistency.

I debated PTA where you start out making $30 am hour and cap out ay $40 with little advancement outside of managing your own practice.

With OTA it's a limited job market. I don't think I ever seen an OTA job opening or working in the hospital. Not even sure what their normal pay is.

However, OTA unlike PTA offers advancement to OT, at a costly endeavor. I did work along OTs for some time and enjoyed my experience.

Feel it would combine psych and part of physical therapy, which I like in a job.

Curious on your thoughts is OTA a good field to work?

OT a good field?

My fiancée doesn't say much said enjoyed OTA school, but never did it. Only reason she didn't do it was due to taking the OTA 3 or 4 times missing by 5 or 10 points every time. So she moved on to nursing instead.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[RUNNING_OT]

Hi, I have worked in psych for 4 to 5 year's. Do love my job can be mentally exhausting and wanting to drag your feet to work days. I facilitate groups, set up care plans, interview patients, and chart. Also add in CNA work EKGS, blood work, vitals, tolieting, assisting with ADLS, and ROM.

I am in the midst of taking my nursing prerequisites. I do and don't want to be a nurse. Doing it more for the financial gain and stability. With my current job only make $23 am hour, but no full time opportunity and outside at other employers can make from $10 am hour to $20 an hour not much consistency.

I debated PTA where you start out making $30 am hour and cap out ay $40 with little advancement outside of managing your own practice.

With OTA it's a limited job market. I don't think I ever seen an OTA job opening or working in the hospital. Not even sure what their normal pay is.

However, OTA unlike PTA offers advancement to OT, at a costly endeavor. I did work along OTs for some time and enjoyed my experience.

Feel it would combine psych and part of physical therapy, which I like in a job.

Curious on your thoughts is OTA a good field to work?

OT a good field?

My fiancée doesn't say much said enjoyed OTA school, but never did it. Only reason she didn't do it was due to taking the OTA 3 or 4 times missing by 5 or 10 points every time. So she moved on to nursing instead.

Appreciate the feedback.

OTAs are limited in certain areas. In Los Angeles, we see many job opportunities for different settings. The median salary for OTA in 2014 was $56,950, but again that depends on the area and setting. Some states pay more than others and there seem to be more of a need for OTAs.
With baby boomers getting older, more people having access to health insurance, and now that the field of OT has gotten more exposure, more people need and have access to OTs and OTAs because we know the impact OT has on patients.

I decided to go into OT because it allows me to educate others about the body and how to adapt to achieve health, wellness, and independence. I have always liked to teach but I knew I didn't want to do that in a classroom settings. After immersing myself in different settings of the field I knew this was the right choice for me.

You can find more information about a career as an OTA here and here.
And more about OT here and here.

Hope this information helps you in your decision 🙂
I have started a blog in hopes of providing more insight in the field of OT. I am also including tips and advice for the application process. Check it out. I am planning on providing more of my personal experiences, especially once I start OT school in the fall.

Good luck 🙂

 

[MusicalOT14]

I am currently in the nursing world and I love taking care of my patients and watching them succeed. Please do not become a nurse for financial gain. When you say "add in CNA work EKGS, blood work, vitals, tolieting, assisting with ADLS, and ROM" that is not just CNA's work, nurses do much of the same plus medication admin, documentation and a ton of problem solving / cleaning up. That mental exhaustion you talk of in your post will not be resolved by becoming a nurse. You are on your feet for 12+ hours and you are the primary care giver which means you are the one the patient sees and relies on. You are the one the patient calls for if they have a problem ( most of the time it is more than 1 pt calling you at once, also add in a Dr and pharmacist ). I am not sure what area you are in but your current salary is not too far off from what a new nurse will make ( unless you do travel nursing or PRN). And your hourly range for PTA is about the same $$ as most nurses unless you become manager etc. As far as I know OT is a growing field and a good way to go if you enjoy psych, science, creativity and helping others to reach their goals. OT also offers a variety of settings- schools, out patient, skilled nursing facilities, hospital, home health. I would have to say I have seen more PTA than I have OTA job postings but I believe you can take either degree and move on to become an OT. Take some time to shadow a nurse, PTA, OTA and OT in a variety of settings or volunteer at a hospital and observe that way. I know money is nice, but happiness is as well. Life is too short to settle so take some time, evaluate and decide where your passion truly is. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Whatever you decide, best of luck in your endeavors 🙂

 

[beestrng]

Some random points:

Never seen an OTA or PTA in acute/inpatient. They work in SNF and home care. I know one working in a school where they contract for OT/PT services (its cheaper).

My program had a couple OTAs and PTAs. They tell me MOT is harder and they only have a bit of an advantage starting out. Not sure if there is a bridge program for OTA to OT.

Depending on your program you will get a class or so with psych. You will probably be limited to self care things if you are allowed to do groups in the future.

OTA jobs are not posted online much where im at. But OTs and OTAs can walk into a SNF and probably get a job/prn here. SNF is high paying but sucks so much.

Nursing is more cost than a revenue center for health systems so we get paid better.

I worked with nurses for about 6 years. Both fields have different goals.

About money, I feel that most of these stats thrown around are due to SNF work. If SNF is not your thing you probably will not get 75k or whatever. With PRN you could make 100k.

 

[FutureOT2018x]

Some random points:

Never seen an OTA or PTA in acute/inpatient. They work in SNF and home care. I know one working in a school where they contract for OT/PT services (its cheaper).

My program had a couple OTAs and PTAs. They tell me MOT is harder and they only have a bit of an advantage starting out. Not sure if there is a bridge program for OTA to OT.

Depending on your program you will get a class or so with psych. You will probably be limited to self care things if you are allowed to do groups in the future.

OTA jobs are not posted online much where im at. But OTs and OTAs can walk into a SNF and probably get a job/prn here. SNF is high paying but sucks so much.

Nursing is more cost than a revenue center for health systems so we get paid better.

I worked with nurses for about 6 years. Both fields have different goals.

About money, I feel that most of these stats thrown around are due to SNF work. If SNF is not your thing you probably will not get 75k or whatever. With PRN you could make 100k.

I work in acute, in-patient rehab, and outpatient. We have one prn COTA that works in-patient rehab and acute. We have PTAs in all three settings, both prn and full-time. I work in Louisiana.

 

[FutureOT2018x]

Hi, I have worked in psych for 4 to 5 year's. Do love my job can be mentally exhausting and wanting to drag your feet to work days. I facilitate groups, set up care plans, interview patients, and chart. Also add in CNA work EKGS, blood work, vitals, tolieting, assisting with ADLS, and ROM.

I am in the midst of taking my nursing prerequisites. I do and don't want to be a nurse. Doing it more for the financial gain and stability. With my current job only make $23 am hour, but no full time opportunity and outside at other employers can make from $10 am hour to $20 an hour not much consistency.

I debated PTA where you start out making $30 am hour and cap out ay $40 with little advancement outside of managing your own practice.

With OTA it's a limited job market. I don't think I ever seen an OTA job opening or working in the hospital. Not even sure what their normal pay is.

However, OTA unlike PTA offers advancement to OT, at a costly endeavor. I did work along OTs for some time and enjoyed my experience.

Feel it would combine psych and part of physical therapy, which I like in a job.

Curious on your thoughts is OTA a good field to work?

OT a good field?

My fiancée doesn't say much said enjoyed OTA school, but never did it. Only reason she didn't do it was due to taking the OTA 3 or 4 times missing by 5 or 10 points every time. So she moved on to nursing instead.

Appreciate the feedback.

I actually work with a PTA who's only been in the field for three years, and she recently just became the Director of Rehab for a SNF, overseeing OTs, PTs, COTAs, PTAs, etc. PTAs can bridge too. I think there are less bridge programs for it, so it's probably more competitive.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

Just to clear some things up -

You don't see COTAs or PTAs in the hospital settings because COTAs and PTAs aren't educated/trained and otherwise not allowed to perform initial evaluations (aka when you first see a patient and decide what's wrong, what can be done to fix it, make goals, make a plan of care, etc.). Patients move in and out of hospitals so often and have medical statuses that change quickly so essentially it's evaluation all the time. COTAs and PTAs don't make sense in that setting if they can't perform evaluations.

That being said, COTAs and PTAs can be and are employed in a variety of other settings including outpatient rehab, pediatric clinics, SNFs, schools, and many more...if it's a setting where a patient may be seen multiple times over a duration of time then you could see COTAs and PTAs working there, as they can carry out therapy sessions after the OT/PT has done the initial evaluation to determine what's wrong and created the plan of care and goals. So yes there are many places that they can and do work!

Hope that helps!

 

[deleted517237]

Just to clear some things up -

You don't see COTAs or PTAs in the hospital settings because COTAs and PTAs aren't educated/trained and otherwise not allowed to perform initial evaluations (aka when you first see a patient and decide what's wrong, what can be done to fix it, make goals, make a plan of care, etc.). Patients move in and out of hospitals so often and have medical statuses that change quickly so essentially it's evaluation all the time. COTAs and PTAs don't make sense in that setting if they can't perform evaluations.

That being said, COTAs and PTAs can be and are employed in a variety of other settings including outpatient rehab, pediatric clinics, SNFs, schools, and many more...if it's a setting where a patient may be seen multiple times over a duration of time then you could see COTAs and PTAs working there, as they can carry out therapy sessions after the OT/PT has done the initial evaluation to determine what's wrong and created the plan of care and goals. So yes there are many places that they can and do work!

Hope that helps!

I work inpatient PRN at a hospital that employs full-time and PRN COTAs, so it's not completely out of the question!

 

[beestrng]

I work inpatient PRN at a hospital that employs full-time and PRN COTAs, so it's not completely out of the question!

less likely to see them in acute i guess

 

[BLS614]

less likely to see them in acute i guess

I'm in my first level II fieldwork right now in inpatient rehab and we have two full-time COTAs and several PRN. When census was low a couple weeks ago, my supervisor and I were sent to the affiliated acute care hospital and there were several COTAs and PTAs there as well. Yes, OTRs did all of the evaluations, but the COTAs did pretty much all of the treats. For patients in the SICU (surgical intensive care unit) with ortho replacements, the patient had a prescribed number of days they were in the hospital so they were likely to be evaled by an OTR and then treated by a COTA for the next two days until discharge. Really though, the COTAs saw any and everyone who was in the hospital who had an order for OT treat for as long as the pt was admitted. It may depend on the area I guess (my FW is in a different part of the state than my school is) but it looks like acute could be an option at select hospitals.