Occupational Therapist (OT)

My Career in Occupational Therapy

Working as a band 6 rotational OT within Cwm Taf Morgannwg (CTM) Health board is a great opportunity to develop skills and knowledge across a variety of settings within Occupational Therapy.

Some of these opportunities include Stroke rehab, Reablement, Medicine, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Community and Primary Care, A and E, and Mental Health Liaison, just to name a few. There are also new and upcoming posts, including the Rapid Assessment and Prevention Team (RAP). This is a new service initiative which involves OT’s working with GP’s within the Navigation Hub to provide rapid OT advice and treatment to patients at home to prevent admission to hospital.

What does your role involve and what does a typical day / week look like?

I currently work within the outpatient’s hand therapy team in Ysbyty Cwm Cynon. My role here involves treating patients with a range of hand injuries and conditions who may or may not require surgery. Like with all OT roles, our aim within this service is to enable patients to return to activities which are meaningful to them and be able to participate in activities of daily living (ADL’s). This requires an understanding of hand anatomy, hand conditions and how they are treated. Developing my knowledge in hand anatomy and the mechanics of how the hand works has been a positive challenge that I have enjoyed. This setting has also given me the opportunity to develop skills and competencies to fabricate splints, which is enjoyable- if not a little nerve-wracking at times! Witnessing how I can practically help patients and seeing them progress each week with specialist hand rehabilitation has been very rewarding.

Within the team, I have also had opportunity to contribute to the development of the service. I have audited how the service performs with treating Mallet injuries and have provided in-service training on wrist instability. The dedicated ‘Supporting Professional Activities’ (SPA) time provided by the Occupational Therapy Service has given me the opportunity to adequately prepare and research these projects. My Occupational Therapy team has greatly supported me within my role, especially with treating patients with more complex conditions. We have a wonderful rapport within the team, where I not only call them my colleagues but also my friends. (OT is a very friendly profession!).

Why did you chose a career in Occupational Therapy?

I chose OT because I simply want to help people. Caring for my little sister who has complex needs really instilled this within me. Seeing how OT helped her was eye-opening and made me think how rewarding OT must be; in positively and significantly impacting on people’s lives. Having worked as an OT for a number of years now, I can now attest to this. Within hand therapy, one of my greatest highlights is supporting a young lady who had a very stiff finger that she was unable to bend and causing her pain. Seeing her regularly, I made her a number of different styles of splints using clinical reasoning and used my problem-solving skills to overcome barriers such as her pain and work. She is now able to flex her finger well and her pain has reduced which has been very rewarding and encouraging as a clinical therapist.

Starting out in my career as a rotational band 5, I had the opportunity to work on a medical ward in one of the larger hospitals in west Wales, closely followed by a 12month paediatric setting which I thoroughly enjoyed. Following this I worked as a band 6 static OT within Neath Port Talbot Reablement and have since been fortunate to secure a band 6 rotational post within the CTM health board. I wanted to write these just to highlight how many different settings we can work in within OT, which I think is great!

What advice would you give to someone looking for a job in Occupational Therapy?

If I was to give advice to my younger self in relation to applying for a band 6 rotational post, I would say ‘just go for it’. Going for a higher banding post can seem daunting at the time, often accompanied with feeling of doubt and feelings that ‘I can’t do it’. However, ‘just going for it’ has enabled me to secure this wonderful post and it has been the greatest achievement within my OT career to date. Although there are greater responsibilities working as a band 6, OT is a very friendly profession and I am blessed to have a wonderful team who not only support me with the practicalities of working as a band 6, but who also encourage me to continue to strive to be the best OT I can possibly be. I also want to say, you have nothing to lose by applying for a rotational band 6 post – interviews are always good practice!

What are your next steps or future career aspirations?

My next step within my OT career is preparing for my next rotation. Although I will be very sad to leave the team as I feel we are a close little family, I am looking forward to new and exciting opportunities to develop my OT skills. I am hoping to start my next adventure within paediatrics and feel that hand therapy has been the perfect stepping stone in supporting my professional knowledge before going into paediatrics.