Month/Year of Graduation

5-2020

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Neuroscience

First Advisor

Katie A. Shirazi, PhD

Abstract

As part of a fast-growing field, occupational therapists (OTs) in Nebraska face many challenges. This project utilizes interviews with local OTs, analysis of scholarly articles, and online databases in order to understand the challenges faced by OTs and how they may be improved upon at both an individual and a state level. The three most common settings for occupational therapists to be placed for fieldwork assignments and for work post-graduation are hospitals, schools, and skilled nursing facilities (AOTA State Affairs Group 2017). Interviews were carried out with occupational therapists working in these three settings in order to examine the similarities and differences between challenges that OTs in these three dominant practice settings face. While research provides an understanding of the problems faced by OTs as a whole, interviews with Nebraska OTs provide a link to how these problems may relate specifically to Nebraska. According to the interviewees, some challenges that OTs face in Nebraska are oversaturation, high caseload, and trouble with insurance coverage. This project aims to call attention to the aspects of occupational therapy that are in need of improvement while also providing prospective OTs with an understanding of how the three largest practice settings compare to one another.

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