Running Head: OCCUPATION-BASED FINAL REFLECTION

Occupation-based Practice Final Reflection

Kerielle L. Smith
Touro University Nevada

OCCUPATION-BASED FINAL REFLECTION2

I feel that my growth and understanding of occupation-based practice while at Touro
University Nevada (TUN) has been in a sense polished. I would say that out of all of the
categories this category was my strongest upon entering the occupational therapy (OT) program.
However, I do feel that my time at TUN has refined this skill in my everyday practice.
The artifact in this category that is most meaningful to me is from my first semester at
TUN. This artifact is a poem that was given to me by my sister while I was pregnant with my
daughter. My sister gave this to me after I had informed her that I was diagnosed a high-risk
pregnancy and that there were going to be complications with the baby. Like myself, this poem
was written by a mother that found out her child was going to have a disability. In the poem the
mother describes the wide range of feelings that one feels when they are told this news about
their child. The feelings range from anger to sadness to confusion and overall worry. Once I was
given this poem, I proceeded to carry it with me in my wallet everywhere I went. I feel that this
more than any other artifact is most occupation based for me. My most important occupation by
far, is being a mother. And not just any mother, a mother of a child with a disability. I feel that
this primary occupation is what has led me and guided me in all my future occupations, such as
becoming an occupational therapist. My dream one day is to own my own clinic and the very
first thing I will put up in my office will be a life size document of this poem, to be seen by
everyone that enters the facility.
The artifact that I feel best represents my growth in this area would be a required
assignment from my third semester at TUN. This artifact consisted of taking an extremely close
look at a client of our choice from our Level 1 fieldwork experience. For my fieldwork I was
placed at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Henderson. The client I choose to write my
occupational profile and intervention was a relatively young women, 39 years old, who suffered

OCCUPATION-BASED FINAL REFLECTION3

from a stroke. I choose her out of all of the patients I had encountered during my time there
because her story affected me the most. Although, this client was unable to speak and had
difficulty with communicating in anyway, I felt a connection with her. She was a wife and a
mother of two young children. She had suffered a stroke and all her family could say is that she
loved her children and was devoted to them and wanted to make sure that no matter what deficits
were caused by her condition, they wanted to keep her involved with her children as much as
possible. I felt so close with this patient because I would hope that if I ever ended up with a
stroke or similar condition at any age, I would still wish to be an active mother to my daughter as
much as possible.
I feel that my acquisition of content knowledge in this matter has been refined. I also feel
that I have continued with my attitude and belief in the importance of occupation based practice
in OT. I hope that I will only continue to perfect my skills in this area and apply it as effectively
as possible when working an actual practice situation.