Direct-care Careers Yield High Satisfaction

Some healthcare careers allow you to really get to know patients and families. They may be in nursing, whether clinic-based or in-home healthcare; or they may include therapists of all sorts: physical, occupational, speech, mental health or massage.

Connie Westrom, an oncology nurse at Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury, says the personal interactions are really gratifying. Some of Westrom's patients visit anywhere from weekly to monthly to receive chemotherapy and related blood work, including transfusions. Others receive infusions for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, iron deficiency and osteoporosis.

Making a difference in patients' lives

"I think you can really make a difference in their treatments," Westrom says. "A lot of patients come in very frightened and you can sit down and talk to them and their families one-on-one to explain what they're going to be going through every step of the way."

Maggie Lesher is an occupational therapist who owns Children's Theraplay in Maplewood and Plymouth. "From my standpoint, pediatric occupational therapy is not just working with the child, but also with families," she says. "It takes pretty close work, especially for very young children."

Pediatric occupational therapists help children learn how to regulate their behavior and energy levels, and help increase independence in self-care activities, such as feeding, dressing, grooming and bedtime routines. They also work on play skills, social participation and fine visual-motor skills for writing. And they help families to adapt what children are learning in therapy to their lives at home.

"We look at all these functional skills and how we can help a child become more independent," Lesher says. "When you find that just-right challenge and that activity that they enjoy, it's no longer work for them. It's just play. It's enjoyable. As a therapist, your challenge is to put a little piece in there that makes the play therapeutic. That heads you closer to your goal."

The reward aspect is powerful for Lesher. "Making a difference is what motivates occupational therapists to do what they do," she says. "I feel sometimes I get back as much as I give. Sometimes I get back more."

Westrom acknowledges that her work with cancer patients can be emotionally challenging. She appreciates Woodwinds for offering a grief support group to employees.

"People ask me all the time `Isn't that a depressing place to work?' In most cases, it's not," she says. "If people come and get early treatments, there's so much that can be done ... It is very hard when we lose somebody that we've seen for awhile. But it's surprising what you can do when you love your job. Not very many people have that opportunity."

To learn more about occupational therapy, visit www.motafunctionfirst.org or www.aota.org. For more on oncology nursing, visit www.ons.org.

Nancy Crotti is a freelance writer who lives in St. Paul.