Leaving Occupational Therapy for Nursing?

trep · Jul 14, 2016

Hello Love4Frenchies,

Ultimately, it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each option. That being said, while I'm not an OT, I was originally planning to become one prior to obtaining my nursing degree. After shadowing an OT at a local pediatric center, I experienced similar feelings to yourself. While going back to school to take A&P, many of my classmates were pre-nursing students, which is what initially sparked my interest in researching the pro's and con's of nursing and OT. After looking into it, in my situation, nursing was clearly the better of the two. Basically, here are some of the things I took into consideration:

1) The salary for both careers is similar, but OT requires a terminal Master's degree whereas Nursing requires an Associate's or BSN.

2) With OT being a terminal Master's, you have little room for future career development and education. While there is a doctorate in OT, at this point there is literally no incentive to acquire one, unless you might be interested in education. In contrast, after getting a BSN, you have several different graduate degrees available (MSN/DNP/PhD) in a wide variety of nursing specialties (Various types of Nurse practitioners, Nurse anesthesia, Nurse education/research, etc).

3) While OT is a diverse career with many specialties, nursing is even more diverse, with even more areas and populations of practice.

4) While OT school requires a lot of knowledge of the sciences, from my brief time following an OT, it seems as though this knowledge is difficult to apply in practice. In nursing, your medical knowledge and critical thinking skills will be utilized on a daily basis, especially when working with volatile patients.

5) Not to get back onto the salary point again, but Nurses with advanced degrees have the potential to earn some pretty appealing triple-figure salaries. Not to mention an increased scope of practice.

These are just some of the things I considered when making my decision. That being said, there are also other things to consider. For example, nurses often work in the hospital setting, which often demands working 12-hour shifts (your day is more like 13-15 hours). Secondly, you will be exposed to nasty things from time to time - feces, vomit, blood, infectious material, etc - basically any body fluid you can imagine. Depending on your specialty and area of employment, you will likely also have to deal with a fair amount of death - patients die every day, and some people deal with these things better than others.

In addition to all I have mentioned, you will need to base your decision on your personal situation. This depends on your age, living situation, whether you have kids, if you can afford the cost of school and time of work, etc. I wish you luck in your decision. I know that for me personally, I am very satisfied in my decision to become a nurse.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2016

I have been a pediatric occupational therapist for 15 years and I'm thinking of making the switch to nursing because I feel like I would be making more of a difference for patients. Do you nurses out there think this is a good change?

Based on the six years I spent working at a rehabilitation hospital, patients tended to view their physical and occupational therapists in a far more respectful light than the nursing staff.

I know I may sound terribly negative, but I think this is a horrible career change.

elkpark · Jul 14, 2016

The OTs I've known over the years have been a lot happier and more satisfied about being OTs than most of the RNs I've known have been about being RNs. My advice would be to not do it.

dishes, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2016

How do you think you will make more of a difference to patients as a nurse than you do as an OT?

love4frenchies · Jul 15, 2016

Thank you for your input.

love4frenchies · Jul 15, 2016

I feel like as a nurse you may make more of a difference because the nurse is the biggest advocate for the patient and they play a big role in the patients care. As an OT you make a difference for them, but maybe not as big of a difference as a nurse.

dishes, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2016

When it comes to patient advocacy, personality is more important than professional designation, there are OTs who are strong patient advocates and nurses who are weak patient advocates. There are OTs who are excellent case managers, they are able to establish rapport with their clients and families and ensure that they receive the full spectrum healthcare services, not just OT services.

Libby1987 · Jul 15, 2016

Get into home health and work with the aging population, you will make a difference all day long.

And you will be paid very well for an enviable schedule and working conditions.

emmy27 · Jul 15, 2016

I think there is ample room for patient advocacy in OT, and while there is room for patient advocacy in nursing, it is REALLY HARD to do effectively in a lot of settings, because the workload, expectations, sheer scope of responsibilities, and lack of respect for nursing from management and sometimes allied disciplines can be a serious roadblock. There are so many times I see patients who I know would benefit from services that might even be available to them (services like OT, for example!) but the magnitude of my workload is such that there isn't time to pursue it aggressively- the best I can do is place a referral and hope someone in case management catches it before the patient is discharged.

I think if you were at the beginning of your career path and hadn't committed either way, that nursing might be a reasonable choice, but I would never recommend someone with an existing terminal degree in a healthcare field to go back to school for nursing. The reality of most working conditions is too brutal these days when you already are in a position to work with patients and make a difference with much, much better working conditions.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jul 15, 2016

Consider also that as an OT, you have the luxury of working with a single patient at a time. As an RN, you seldom do.

As an OT, your schedule is fairly predictable, as an RN that is seldom the case- esp. as a new RN.

Lifestyle-wise, I would stay an RN if I were in your position. But you must do what is right for YOU.

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2016

If your only l