OT vs. Nurse

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Oct 30, 2022

OT doesn't do med administration, IV starts or maintenance, med teaching, doesn't contact MD for LOC changes or other. If I were young and doing it over, I'd go OT. Usually M-F, better hours, no holidays, weekends, etc. Family and patients generally don't threaten OTs with lawsuits or bodily harm. I've had threats of both. My body is beat up after 30 years. My OT cousin, who's been at it a little longer doesn't have the same complaints

Mary3010 · Nov 5, 2022

Would you say that nurses have more variety in where they can work e.g. Surgery, midwifery with extra study etc. or is it fairly similar?

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Nov 5, 2022

Location dependent on both. For nursing, take midwifery for example. In my area, there are none. I'm not sure if Indiana even has a legal pathway (BON) for them, but OTs can work in sports medicine in my area, I'm not sure that there's many NPs, mostly MDs (again, not sure). Both have the same opportunity groups: peds, adolescent, geriatric, etc.

Many areas have a surplus of nurses and APRNs, many just not working for various reasons, some not working in nursing or healthcare; sometimes simply moving will help with a job acquisition. Some aren't able to find a job, or desired job. Nursing schools can literally pump out 50-100 students per cycle

OTs limit their intake to school, so there's not a huge overflow overall, but some areas do have a surplus, and like nursing, a move is necessary for a job. Their numbers are far fewer

Hope this gives you some food for thought

Mary3010 · Jan 14, 2023

Hoosier_RN said:

If I were young and doing it over, I'd go OT. Usually M-F, better hours, no holidays, weekends, etc. Family and patients generally don't threaten OTs with lawsuits or bodily harm. I've had threats of both. My body is beat up after 30 years. My OT cousin, who's been at it a little longer doesn't have the same complaints

Are there many day positions as a nurse? Also, are there ways to avoid your body not having those sort of complications from working as a nurse? (Or is it more a case of looking after yourself and knowing that any profession has its risks). Hopefully you're OK!!

Also, is the patient population larger in nursing than in OT? As in, for OT you would be helping someone to being independent (rehabilitation patients) whereas in nursing you have those patients plus everyone else.

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jan 14, 2023

Mary3010 said:

Are there many day positions as a nurse? Also, are there ways to avoid your body not having those sort of complications from working as a nurse? (Or is it more a case of looking after yourself and knowing that any profession has its risks). Hopefully you're OK!!

Also, is the patient population larger in nursing than in OT? As in, for OT you would be helping someone to being independent (rehabilitation patients) whereas in nursing you have those patients plus everyone else.

Starting out in nursing, most start out on nights, as days seems to be desired. Not always, but usually. And non bedside positions usually require some bedside experience. OT, of course, is rehab, so smaller patient population, whereas nursing covers a larger overall population, but upon graduation, you have no guarantees of job with desired population. In my area, right now with talks of shortages everywhere else, new grads aren't finding jobs, even in LTC.

I'm fine, my mother is a retired nurse. I knew going in, physically and mentally, exactly what I was getting into. The only thing that changed is healthcare entities (hospitals and insurance companies) are openly greedier, putting both patients and staff at risk

subee, MSN, CRNA · Jan 17, 2023

Mary3010 said:

Are there many day positions as a nurse? Also, are there ways to avoid your body not having those sort of complications from working as a nurse? (Or is it more a case of looking after yourself and knowing that any profession has its risks). Hopefully you're OK!!

Also, is the patient population larger in nursing than in OT? As in, for OT you would be helping someone to being independent (rehabilitation patients) whereas in nursing you have those patients plus everyone else.

If you are looking for a day job that won't cause you any physical problems, nursing or OT is not for you. Nursing and OT are two separate professions. Hospitals are filled with patient and very few of them have OT. If you want to have the medical knowledge that a nurse would have and work in rehab only, there are nursing master's degrees in rehab nursing. If you don't want to devote what it takes to being a nurse and you don't want to hurt yourself at work, I would suggest speech therapy .

Kitiger, RN · Jan 17, 2023

From what I've seen, nursing and PT get the most physical work. OT has physical work, but usually not as much as nursing or physical therapy.

Mary3010 · Jan 20, 2023

In what way would nursing, OT or PT cause you physical problems or just be physically demanding?

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jan 20, 2023

Mary3010 said:

In what way would nursing, OT or PT cause you physical problems or just be physically demanding?

Having to physically assist patients, lifting, odd positioning to assist. Up and down all day (for all). Nurses are known to not get breaks or adequate breaks, that is detrimental to physical health as well

Kitiger, RN · Jan 20, 2023

Mary3010 said:

In what way would nursing, OT or PT cause you physical problems or just be physically demanding?

Doing range of motion on a strong, spastic patient takes strength. Turning a patient whose spasticity resists you is a challenge. Sliding a patient up in bed takes strength. (I use a pull sheet over a slippery sheet, and I pull from the top of the bed with the knee gatch up, and it still takes strength.) When you assist a patient to stand and he jerks sideways, you must be ready, and you must be strong enough to keep him safe. That may require you to slide him down to the floor.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

OT usually works with the upper body and with fine motor skills, so OT usually doesn't take as much strength.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Jan 20, 2023

Kitiger said:

From what I've seen, nursing and PT get the most physical work. OT has physical work, but usually not as much as nursing or physical therapy.

Is this a joke? I'm not sure where to start. In the OR, there is the constant transfer of some very large units from the table to their stretchers. Moving just one freshly trached 300 or 400 pounder to an ICU bed can make give anyone a bad back for life. Imagine doing that for 30 - 40 years. No matter how big the patient, they still have to get up and sit in a chair...maybe several times a day.