Continuing professional development
Feature
Next steps
Planning was underway for closing down the large psychiatric hospitals , replacing these with community-based services . The future for staff , including support workers like me , was formerly discussed and debated within various workshops .
Following a chance meeting with a teacher at my son ’ s school , who encouraged me to take an English A Level , I returned to education as an adult learner . This showed me that I might have potential beyond my current occupational therapy helper role .
Meeting student nurses who were on practice placement in occupational therapy services was inspiring . Unbeknown to me at that time , the student nurse placements in the occupational therapy service had been set up by a former head occupational therapist , Irene Ilott , who had left the hospital to set up a part-time training programme for occupational therapy support workers at Derby College .
Our paths connected only when I found her paper in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy about creating a training programme to enable occupational therapy support workers to become qualified occupational therapists ( Ilott 1991 ). This valuable article became the ticket to my future .
One support worker colleague in our team applied to undertake the locally accessible nurse training programme . This encouraged me . Perhaps I could do something similar ?
However , the idea of becoming a nurse did not inspire me . The mental health nursing role at that time was strongly concerned with medication and electro convulsive therapy , which I found disturbing . It was ‘ the doing stuff of life ’ in occupational therapy ( McNulty 2021 ) that interested me .
A single conversation with human resources staff led to them supporting my request to explore this opportunity . It felt somewhat unreal at that time ; things like this did not happen to ordinary people like me .
Once started , my learning journey took twists and turns , eventually leading me to the University College of Ripon and York St John , and a four-year part-time BSc for occupational therapy support workers ( 1993-1997 ).
I realised that my dream could become a reality when , in conversation with a friend , I learned about a local highspeed train that would enable me to make the journey to university and home again in a day .
The occupational therapy programme began for me in September 1993 . Studying at university was an absolute privilege and joy for me and the learning pathway felt superb .
My life-changing learning journey involved such joys as listening to lectures , visiting the university library , crammed with thousands of books and journals , and sitting on the grass at lunchtime with fellow students in the sunshine .
I remember , laughing with amazement that this was me with this awesome opportunity .
The part-time programme was a sheer roller coaster adventure , with weeks of university-based learning and eight clinical practice placements , based mostly in the north of England .
My earlier self-directed study proved to be a sturdy platform for this progression into university life . The specifically designed learning programme included my continuing role as a support worker and juggling family needs .
My studies and travel costs were funded by a bursary and throughout the programme , with my part-time work , I retained my support worker salary . For many students , the four years seemed a long time , but for me it meant that I was able to do the course .
Graduation and beyond
Completing a degree in occupational therapy opened new doors , just as those at the old hospital were getting ready to finally close .
I was part of history , as patients from a longstay ward became the residents of a newly built rehabilitation unit . This place changed their lives , as mine was also changing .
I became their occupational therapist with a dedicated support worker . We were a team and a place of amazing occupation focused ‘ slowrehabilitation ’ ( McNulty 2021 ). The remaining hours of my post led me through a pathway of rotations in various mental health services .
The senior occupational therapists moved on and I became a lone occupational therapist within multidisciplinary teams , finding my own way in this complex new world of mental health services .
Studying came to my rescue again , as I took up any opportunity available to me . However , my greatest teachers have always been the people and families I have worked with . Furthermore , I include inspirational line managers and colleagues , whose unexpected feedback about my creative approach to ensuring the philosophy of occupation was at the heart of everything I did . I began to develop my selfconfidence .
Identifying and seizing opportunities
Another milestone on my learning journey was becoming a practice educator . Linking with the universities to take students on practice placement connected me with occupational therapy academics and led to me write a chapter about my work ( Pollard 2005 ).
My experiences have showed me that people who are willing to explore different roles find
April 2022 OTnews 47