Job 2014

My current job is in an acute setting, which means I am working with people immediately after their injury. All of my previous experience has been with people who have moved beyond the acute stage. I have of course always been aware of acute settings, but awareness is very different from experience, and this experience has filled a huge gap in my professional life that has forever changed me for the better.

I am working in the Occupational Therapy for Neurosciences department, which sees people with neurological conditions such as Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson's Disease as well as people requiring brain or spinal surgery such as to remove tumours, after a fall, or after a road traffic collision. It is shocking to see the sheer volume of falls and accidents leading to devastating brain and spinal injuries that are alcohol related. I feel like if ordinary people saw what I see everyday, they would be much more cautious about how much alcohol they consume.

In an acute setting, medical stability is the foremost priority. Once the clients are stable, they are discharged and then a new client comes in. So my interaction with most people is fairly brief. Occasionally, I even get to go to people's homes and set up equipment. And if the person is heading for rehab, I might get to have a session or two to get them ready for the more intense rehab they will get later.

I am often seeing people before they have had a chance to adjust to their new circumstances. And I saw more post traumatic amnesia in the first month of this job than I have seen in previous ten years. The work is fast paced and I rarely see the end result. But I can see the benefit of what I am doing in a more abstract sense, and I am pleased for the opportunity to contribute to my community in this way.

Photo Credits

Surgical Videos of the Brian and Nerves

Bath Aids

The Me I Wish I Was

My recent NHS post is completely true, but part of me wanted to moan about the challenges I am facing. I usually wait to write about struggles until I have had time to digest it and see the bigger picture.   But I thought it might be useful to admit in this very public space that I do in fact struggle with things.  So I am going to give it a try.

It has been helpful to reflect back on how I initially saw going full time in the technology service post as a negative, and it turned out to be the most professionally productive I have ever been.


It is completely unfair to compare my current job, which I have only had for a few months, to the longest job I ever had. A more fair comparison is the current job to when I was just a few months into the old job. But that memory of the start of that job is cloudy. Much clearer is my memory of working at my peak performance at the end.

I am writing this post to remind myself that I need to be brave, and I need to be patient. It took years to get my footing in the old job, and it all happened very gradually. But even when reflecting, I cannot help missing the most amazing team that anyone could hope to work in. It was so much easier to become a better version of myself when I was surrounded by an inspiring team whose members were constantly nurturing each other's potential. I wish I had the strength be the kind of person I was with them, now.

Photo Credit

Foothold