The job hunt is over!

Wheeeeeew! The job hunt is officially over. I will be in the hospital setting and get to experience the different areas (rehab, acute, NICU, etc.). Finding a place of employment took me longer and it was harder than I expected. Some ppl may call me picky but I'm ok with that bc it's true...after all, it is the start of my career. I was on a mission to find a place that I feel I can mesh well with the people, a family-like atmosphere. I finally found a place that feels right for me. An advice that a lot of ppl told me was not to take the first job offer. Although an exhausting process, I'm glad I took the advice and went on interviews after interviews to see what's out there. Allow yourself some "shopping" time.

How I got my name out there? Well, I first posted my resume on Monster's and then I went to individual hospital or clinic websites and applied online. I should have done it vice versa (applied on individual sites then if needed post on Monster's).

Some of the key factors I kept in mind or asked about was if mentoring was available (i.e. assisting another OT in evals or co-treating for a couple of week or so), does the environment feel right (is it a good fit), opportunity to float around and soak up the knowledge in different areas or will I be stuck in one area of the hospital, and CEU allowance. I had more questions to ask in the interviews but those are the main ones I can think of right now. Oh yeah, last but not least "What separates you from your competitors?"

Also, BE YOURSELF!

Caregiver perspective

Something I meant to post during my FW level 2 but forgot about: There were several occassions that I saw this caregiver constantly yelling at his son to pick up his left leg. With every step he took, his father kept yelling lift up your darn left leg as he sorta pushed him along, stop dragging it, #$%@*! I felt extremely bad for him. What I should have done was ask the therapist if she had ever talk to the caregiver about caregiver burden and destressing techniques or something to that effect instead of only encouraging the patient along. I didn't understand why the caregiver could be so cruel.

Days go by, FW is almost over but the stress increases because I must perform perfectly, my mom's health was declining which meant the more demands on me to take care of her, deadlines for graduation and application for NBCOT, and the pile gets higher. I found myself stressed out and snapping at my mom. "Stop compensating and limping, bend your knee, you'll mess up your hips if you do that!" I realized that I was doing the same thing the other caregiver was doing, snapping! So I stepped back and checked in with myself on why I was acting the way I was. It was not only the stress but also the fear of losing my mom because her health was just declining. I was acting out of anger. I wasn't angry at her but at the disease...the osteoarthritis, glaucoma, cataracts, etc. I calmed myself down but still full of emotions and explained to my mom that when I snap, it's not because i'm mad at her but mad at the disease, that I didn't want to see her in such pain...i didn't want her to hurt anymore. Ever since then, I haven't snapped because I've learned to check in with myself when I feel that snappiness coming up, take my deep breaths, and go to my calm place.

I'm happy to say that my mom is doing better now too.

I PASSED the OT board exam!

Well, I found out yesterday that I passed. Wahoooooooo! The way I prepared for it did work after all but with lots of prayers too. Practice, practice, and practice. Actually, find out which way of studying is best for you and find out early enough so you have adequate time to prepare. Don't forget try to get a good night's rest too. Oh, this might sound silly to some but I also practiced two days in a row before exam day on what I ate and the time I ate because you don't want to be too full or get hungry during the test.