The occupational therapist jobs are not only to improve motor functions and mental abilities but also to help the patients recompense affected functions. These challenges are especially hard when the patient is living alone. The goal is to help them become independent and productive. The most common types of activities of the patients that require help are dressing, eating, interacting, and cooking. Some must go through exercises to become physically ready for such tasks and some may have activities to improve memory and visual sharpness.
Hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, and geriatrics provide occupational therapist jobs but also in schools and private clinics. Occupational therapists work in many settings, types, and groups of people. A patient for instance may have memory loss. An occupational therapist may recommend activities that involve hand and eye coordination exercises as well as making a list help recall things. An occupational therapist also makes use of computers to assist patients to improve the recognition of different patterns though a series of tests.
In hospitals and rehabilitation centers, an occupational therapist may work with patients who are affected by cerebral palsy, injuries, quadriplegic and muscular spastic patients. These patients may need a bit more aggressive approach and sometimes they may need assistive implements to help them carry out their daily activities. Some patients even require special communications systems in case of emergencies and other adaptive equipments to help them get on with their lives.
Some occupational therapists would treat individuals with environmental issues such as in the workplace. Occupational therapists sometimes help the patient with employment and collaborate with the patient’s employer to allow certain accommodations and adjustments so that the patient can function better.
Occupational therapist jobs are not only limited to patients with debilitating disorders, they may also work with elderly patients. Children have cognitive and environmental issues too so occupational therapists work with them as well. A mental health clinic can be the work place of an occupational therapist. They would help and treat patients with alcohol, eating disorders, patients with emotional trauma, and drug abuse and help them ward off the sense of emptiness, loneliness, and hopelessness. Instead, the occupational therapist teaches self confidence and helps them succeed in their work and in social and physical activities
An occupational therapist should be physically fit. The workplace takes a lot of walking, lifting and noise. Some occupational therapist may become travel occupational therapist and needs to travel from one place to another several times a month. And they have to write a report on the progress of the patients and attend meetings.
If you want to be an occupational therapist, you need to be a holder of a master’s degree from a university or career colleges. You must be licensed in order to work. You have to pass a national certification examination. Occupational therapist jobs are in demand in 50 states so running out of jobs is the least of your worries. The annual median income for an occupational therapist ranges from $60,000 to $75,000. Travel occupational therapists earn much higher, and you have the option to be one since the demand for both is increasing.
If you are a fresh graduate you have to be persistent in looking for the right job and career for you. You also have to be flexible and landing an entry-level job will help you get connected. Make several copies of your resume. You have to make sure that they are impeccably written and pleasing and attractive. Research as much as you can about the companies attending the fair because the more informed you are, the more you impress them. Besides, it's good to know what kind of company you will be working with to make sure that you fit in their workplace and the corporate culture they observe.
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