OT's i've observed seem bored/unhappy?

[SnakePlissken]

I'v observed OT's in about 3 settings so far, some of them who just graduated and some who have been in practice for many years, and all of them seem like they're bored, uninterested, and/or burnt out. In fact one of them was a 65 yo male and he seemed more motivated than the other two younger OT's. I'm not trying to attract negativity to the profession, but I think it's important to see both positive and potentially negative sides and maybe even communicate that understanding during interviews.

What do you guys think and what did you think about the OT's you have observed? Do you think I just coincidentally ended up with unmotivated OT's or perhaps they were just trying to act professional?

Thanks!

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[MakeMeOT]

No I think this is a very good point. But it may also depend on the setting. I worked in an outpatient rehab office for 9months which was super busy. PTs and OTs alike were scheduled for 3 pts/hour including initial evaluations. Workin 12-13 hr days only to have 3-4hours I notes waiting for them when they got home <--A quick and sure way to get burned out. I even felt burnt out after 2 or 3 months and I'm just an aid.

On the contrary my time in a hand therapy clinic was much more relaxed an the therapists seemed much more excited about their job, their patients, and even me being their as a volunteer. Granted it was a much smaller office, but each therapist (2) still saw up to 4pts/hour.

As far as I can tell its about the environment and level of stress.

 

[rcludo]

I shadowed one school OT who was near retirement and seemed somewhat burnt out, but multiple other ones I've shadowed (hand therapist, inpatient neuro rehab OT, hippotherapy OT) were very enthusiastic about how much they love their jobs. They told me it was great to have the variety that exists in the field and how it's always refreshing to be able to move to a new area of OT if you're getting bored with the one you're in.

 

[raquel]

It's a valid topic OP, albeit a bit taboo on this board I think. I wouldn't say I've seen unmotivated OTs, more like passionless ones. I can't really fault them because I felt burned out during level II FW. I suppose it depends on the setting and honestly any job gets boring after a while. The good thing about OT is that you can jump around to different settings.

My advice to people interested in this field is to do really do their homework to make sure this will be the right long term career for them.

 

[prodigiousflame]

I agree depends on the setting. Out of all the settings I've seen I've really enjoyed hippotherapy and the therapists seemed pretty happy to be there..the gains I saw the children make were amazing. One therapist was saying how she made more progress during a few weeks of hippotherapy with one child than in the eight years she had worked with her inside a regular outpatient clinic. That's enough to motivate me.

 

[otsomeday]

Exactly. Like the person above mentioned, there are so many areas of OT to work in so if you get bored or burnt out just work in a different setting.

 

[BHSUStudent]

I'v observed OT's in about 3 settings so far, some of them who just graduated and some who have been in practice for many years, and all of them seem like they're bored, uninterested, and/or burnt out. In fact one of them was a 65 yo male and he seemed more motivated than the other two younger OT's. I'm not trying to attract negativity to the profession, but I think it's important to see both positive and potentially negative sides and maybe even communicate that understanding during interviews.

What do you guys think and what did you think about the OT's you have observed? Do you think I just coincidentally ended up with unmotivated OT's or perhaps they were just trying to act professional?

Thanks!

I've seen many motivated, passionate OTs.

Sometimes it gets boring, because you do the same things repeatedly. But, it's like that in many jobs. Burn out is a possibility, especially when you have high case loads repeatedly, but again, that too occurs in many jobs. Many people have this facade that the perfect job exists, but from my experience, all jobs have positives and negatives.

That's why I try to emphasize, that people should not go into OT for the money, that is takes a certain care-taking type of personality, etc. It's just a bad idea to make a commitment to OT without addressing the possibility that you might not be a good fit for the profession. I get a little agitated when I hear people bashing the profession because they have to "wipe butts" or shower people. I've done showering and toileting and it just doesn't bother me. I also spent 9 months in a wheel chair, and this increased my capacity to empathize for those experiencing occupational disruption or deprivation. If a potential OT can't empathize with a person going through that kind of situation, than I don't think OT (or various aspects of OT) is for them. Not being able to shower or go to the bathroom without assistance is difficult already, and yes, patients can read the unconscious expressions of emotion that a professional projects. Treating such a situation as an inconvenience makes it humiliating/degrading for the patient, when they are in need of empathy and unconditional positive regard.

Also encountering problem behaviors is a possibility. This may become more frequent, depending upon the population that you decide to support. People with developmental disabilities, dementia, TBIs, and people with difficult personalities can act out in certain ways that can make the job more stressful. It's much harder to practice empathy when you're burnt out, or under much stress.

Sometimes you will cause pain when trying to rehabilitate a patient, and because some of them do not understand rehabilitation or what it is that you are trying to do, they will be antagonistic towards your goals. Some patients aren't motivated, and you will tire of their lack of progress. Human relationships are naturally reciprocal, and if you get a patient that doesn't give back, it can be emotionally draining. Sometimes patients may not seem appreciative of what you do, but believe me, you are helping them in profound ways.

 

[Gemut]

This is great that people are speaking about "burnout" within the OT field. As a career changer, I am acutely aware that there is an ebb and flow to vocational satisfaction. Any job can feel like a rut rather than a groove depending on a variety of factors. One aspect of our jobs as OTs will be to encounter and aid the psychological factors that cause vocational dissatisfaction or burnout in clients, so considering this question gives us a headstart on developing a therapeutic approach that meets the root causes of this condition.

The Sociology prerequisite that most MSOT schools have is in place for a good reason. We should be thinking about how the individual engages the world in many ways but particularly from a vocational perspective because people spend so much of their lives at work. Matthew Crawford wrote a fantastic book that that should be required reading for OTs called SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT: AN INQUIRY INTO THE VALUE OF WORK. As a political philosopher who makes his living as a motorcycle mechanic, Crawford faced the phenomenon of burnout head on and came up with some remarkable observations and insights into the nature of work. One tidbit that sticks out in my mind is that the historically vaunted and fetishized Henry Ford needed to hire over 960 workers to ensure a single one stayed on the job longer than a month, so loathsome and repulsive was assembly line work to his new hires. Maintaining one's enthusiasm in any role day after day and year after year is a daunting task in any vocation. If your task is to tighten bolts on tire rims it is all the more difficult to muster the requisite enthusiasm to keep fired up about your job. As a culture we have come to expect that work is drudgery, which is why you get payed to do it in the first place. The economic value of work accrues because it is done efficiently, expertly, and repetitively. It is the repetitive part that is most difficult to bear over the long haul. Although Ford took this part of the equation to an extreme, any job has aspects that are boring because they have to be done over and over again.

As part of my work I have had the opportunity to observe over 100 teachers doing their job. Enthusiasm and burnout do not walk hand in hand. Loss of enthusiasm, or worse, never having been enthusiastic in the first place, is a precursor to burnout. If you are enthusiastic about OT now, you will be carried by that force for some time. At one point, your native enthusiasm will wane and you will need to generate a new and deeper interest in your work. This is not different than parenting, being in a relationship or exercising.

Understanding the generation of enthusiasm is essential for OTs because OTs are charged with generating enthusiasm in clients as well as themselves. Genuine interest is the foundation of enthusiasm. Interest begins with directing one's attention authentically to the subject or activity at hand. The schooling of one's own attention so that it can be directed at will is the anecdote for burnout. Interested people are never bored.

OT is not PT. It is a psychosocial modality that demands we understand motivation as much as motor neurons. Activating the enthusiasm-interest-attention axis in ourselves and others is one of the keys to avoiding burnout. Every good teacher knows that enthusiasm inspires interest which grabs attention. If one cannot activate this cascade for themselves, how can they inspire it in another? Sadly, the existence of burnout in OT is a sign that the role has been burdened with either overly repetitive techniques on one hand or the entry of those into the field who may have been drawn by the salary rather than the role on the other. This does not mean good therapists don't grow fatigued with their role over time.

I have seen good teachers grow burdened with the weight of facing September and a new school year. Usually professionalism asserts itself and, like a Shakespearian actor, the role is well performed for another run. Overcoming the foreboding sense of the daily demands of the classroom can be too much after decades of competent work and burnout sets in. Some enter and leave the profession after just a year or two because they are just not constituted for the role.

When a teacher who is burnt out or is not cut out for the role in the first place remains on the job, what ensues is not pretty for the students. The same situation could easily occur with OTs. The more incisive question is "is there something endemic to Occupational Therapy that produces dissatisfaction or is dissatisfaction simply a case of a bad vocational fit?" I would posit that the greater the bureaucratic demands of one's position, the greater the dissatisfaction for competent
therapists. The more one is directly engaged in a meaningful therapeutic interaction, the greater the job satisfaction.

 

[BHSUStudent]

"Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly is a good book to read. I get flow moments while doing tedious things at work, and I experience no stress at all when the repetitive tasks should be draining. If you try to make things challenging, (e.g., beat your own record) the tasks can actually become fun and less boring.

What is Flow? According to Csikszentmihaly:

1. Completely involved in what we are doing - focused concentration.
2. A sense of ecstasy--of being outside everyday reality.
3. Great inner clarity--knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
4. Knowing that the activity is doable--that our skills are adequate to the tasks.
5. A sense of serenity--no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego.
6. Timelessness--thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes.
7. Intrinsic motivation--whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

I find 6 to be integral. If a person is constantly focusing on time, and can't wait until their shift is over with, the flow falls apart. You have to completely eliminate your awareness of time, as I've found personally, in order to experience flow. Once that happens, you will not believe how fast your shift ends.

When observing at a hospital, I watched a patient with rheumatoid arthritis attempt to put a sock on, post surgery. This was the 5th time I watched someone put socks on, and it was kind of repetitive. However, I actually starting drawing schematics for a sock aid that someone with rheumatoid arthritis could use. I actually became very interested in how people put socks on, because I wanted to find a way to make it easier. Watching people put socks on became intellectually engaging.

IMO, if you create a challenge, if you reframe the situation into a positive/constructive manner, you can make anything boring, like watching people put socks on, fun.

I am still interested in designing a sock aid, though the design I came up with would have the tendency to stretch the hosiery, which would not be cost effective as it would ruin the hosiery faster. So there is a problem I still have to solve. And yes, I am still fascinated with how people put socks on, lol. I also became fascinated with edema as a result, and created an idea to treat edema.

 

[BowlofSunshine]

Burnout is real and OT is not exempt.

The setting makes a big difference. I know some OTs who work in SNFs who are stressed and burnt out to high hell. The SNFs really make it difficult to make your treatments client centered, even though they teach you that in school. It's pure BS.

Clients area treated like they are object on an assembly line and you will start doing what I call "assembly line therapy" so you can treat your patients within the designated time frame, get your notes done in a timely manner and maintain required productivity.

You will not be able to leisurely treat your patients. You will be given a time frame in which you must treat them and in a SNF, which most times you will be treating an elderly patient for 60-75 minutes which is insane.

If you are in a setting like peds, it is much mroe relaxed. The OTs who work in this setting stay until retirement because of the level of autonomy you have to treat.

But I will say, you must know your stuff. Peds is nothing to shake a stick at. But all the OTs I've talked to in this setting, like working in peds and refuse to go back to a SNF or other fast paced setting.