Although occupational therapists (OTs) typically work with people with chronic physical and cognitive conditions, they also play a key role in acute care. Hospitals are the largest employer of OTs, engaging 29% of the OT workforce, or over 43,000 OTs, in the United States.1 We outline the role of occupational therapy in acute care and how OTs in hospitals can contribute to better patient care and outcomes.
What Is Acute Care Occupational Therapy?
Acute care, a category of healthcare, encompasses the treatment of sudden, emergent injury and illness.2 It includes a range of clinical healthcare settings, such as emergency medicine, trauma care, urgent care, intensive care and inpatient critical care. Acute care provides patients who have severe or even life-threatening medical conditions with short-term, immediate treatment.
The goal of acute care is to treat patients effectively and efficiently and, when appropriate, stabilize them and transfer them to long-term rehabilitative care. If you work in acute care occupational therapy, you must be knowledgeable about treating conditions resulting from various causes, from strokes to falls to motor vehicle accidents.
Occupational Therapy in Acute Care vs. Traditional Rehabilitation Settings
Hospital emergency departments provide care for life- or limb-threatening conditions needing immediate attention, with typically short treatment or recovery.2 You may treat more patients during a shift than you would in a traditional rehabilitation setting, such as a skilled nursing facility. Given that acute care is short-term, as an acute care OT you may not get to know your patients as well as you would in a traditional rehabilitation setting.
As patients in acute care are typically in an unstable condition, you will have added pressure to make the right decisions quickly. Occupational therapy acute care focuses on performing therapeutic interventions and creating discharge plans.3 Patients in rehab settings have chronic issues that OTs treat over time.
What is the Role of Occupational Therapy in an Acute Setting?
In your occupational therapy specialty, your role is to help patients with physical or cognitive challenges develop or recover their ability to perform meaningful activities of daily living. Acute care occupational therapy begins by working with patients early in their recovery to determine the best treatments. Given their medical knowledge and ability to promote patients’ well-being and self-sufficiency, occupational therapists are critical members of the acute care team.
Interventions of Occupational Therapy in Acute Care
Occupational therapists work on interprofessional teams with physical therapists (PTs), speech-language pathologists(SLPs), nurses and physicians to determine the best plan of care. For example, if a PT advises standing twice daily, an acute care OT might pair this challenging weight-bearing task with an enjoyable daily activity like eating a meal. Alternatively, the OT may bring in the SLP to teach patients who cannot verbalize how to use adaptive communication devices.
Occupational therapists are in a perfect position to facilitate supportive and safe discharge from acute care, which enables clients to do what they like, want, and need.
For critical care patients, acute care occupational therapy can:
- Initiate activity as soon as possible
- Increase awareness of their surroundings
- Evaluate joint integrity and the need for splints, positioning devices, and assistive technology
- Determine the ability to eat and swallow
For surgery, neurology and orthopedic patients, it can:
- Restore their everyday activity to the previous level
- Create performance-based goals for the patient while considering the patient’s individual lifestyle in order to determine the need for adaptive equipment or home modifications
- Provide preventive splinting that allows for the necessary range of motion
- Evaluate the need for mobility assistance
- Show patients how to use assistive devices
- Educate patients on self-care activities, mobility and home exercise programs
- Provide support to caregivers for assisting patients with everyday activity
For mental health patients, occupational therapy in acute care can:
- Help manage symptoms so they can perform everyday activities
- Offer client-centered coping strategies for daily life
- Contribute to discharge planning and offer suggestions for discharge support
- Help the client set goals for community re-entry, such as education and employment
- Offer support for the client and people around them to feel safe in their daily environment
For pediatric patients, acute care OT can:
- Enable the children to function in everyday life
- Help families support their child in daily functioning
- Consider developmental milestones when setting goals and delivering treatment
Learn More About the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences’ (USAHS) OT Programs
Benefits of Occupational Therapy in Acute Care
Occupational therapy in acute care has significant benefits for patients and hospitals. Acute care occupational therapy practitioners can help patients improve function by creating treatment plans that outline appropriate next steps, such as home exercises, continued therapy and adaptive methods for performing activities of daily living (ADLs).
Hospital-based occupational therapy can help reduce readmission rates by lowering patients’ risk of further or future injury, which ultimately decreases costs. One study suggested that higher occupational therapy spending is associated with lower readmission rates because occupational therapy in hospitals uniquely places an immediate focus on patients’ functional and social needs, which, if left unaddressed, are common reasons for readmission.4
Why Practice Acute Care Occupational Therapy?
A career practicing occupational therapy in hospitals and other acute care settings is not for everyone. As an acute care occupational therapy professional, you must be resilient and flexible, with strong attention to detail and the ability to thrive under pressure. You need to be able to deliver optimal, efficient care under stressful conditions.
That being said, you will have opportunities and experiences you would not have in a traditional rehabilitation setting. By practicing occupational therapy in hospitals and other acute care settings, you will refine your skills and learn new ones, such as:
- Diagnosing, treating and managing patients under pressure
- Assessing risk and making decisions quickly
- Communicating with various stakeholders, including patients, family members and physicians
What Education Do You Need to Practice Acute Care Occupational Therapy?
If you envision a future career in acute care occupational therapy, there are a few admissions requirements to complete. First, it’s best to start with a bachelor’s degree in OT or a health sciences field. Next, earn your graduate degree in OT: either a Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) or a Doctor of Occupational Therapy(OTD). Both degrees include mentored, hands-on fieldwork and prepare you to excel in clinical practice. However, the OTD degree includes expanded studies on research, advocacy and policymaking within the profession. After graduation, pass the national certification exam (administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy), and you’ll be ready to practice OT in a hospital or another healthcare setting.
Working in acute care occupational therapy can be exciting and stimulating. It’s a fast-paced environment where no two days are the same, and you’ll have the opportunity to work closely with diverse, specialized medical professionals. You’ll contribute to a team doing life-saving work, making it an immensely rewarding experience.
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) offers hands-on Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) and Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degrees. Practice with mock patients in our state-of-the-art simulation centers and learn anatomy with our high-tech tools. Prepare for clinical practice with patients across the lifespan, as well as advanced roles in research, practice leadership and policymaking. Residential, Hybrid Immersion and Flex (online/weekend) paths are available. We also offer an online Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) program designed for working clinicians and healthcare educators, with optional on-campus immersions and an annual interprofessional trip abroad.
Master of Occupational Therapy – Dallas Campus
The entry-level occupational therapy master’s degree program at the Dallas, Texas, campus has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is 301-652-AOTA, and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must complete an on-site evaluation and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
Students must complete 24 weeks of Level II fieldwork within 24 months following completion of the didactic portion of the program.
Sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Therapists – Work Environment,” BLS, August 29, 2024,https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm#tab-3.
- Acuity MD, “Acute Care: What Is It and How Does It Work?,” Acuity MD, June 19, 2023,https://www.acuitymd.com/blog/acute-care-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work.
- Sarah Stromsdorfer, “Occupational Therapy in the Acute Care Setting,” My OT Spot, May 6, 2024, https://www.myotspot.com/occupational-therapy-acute-care-setting/.
- Andrew T. Rogers, Ge Bai, et al., “Higher Hospital Spending on Occupational Therapy Is Associated With Lower Readmission Rates,” Medical Care Research and Review, December 2017,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27589987.
