Occupational therapists and other allied health professionals address diversity with their clients which includes sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to determine occupational therapy practitioners? preparedness and comfort level in working with gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients. A 14-item survey was mailed to 1,051 practitioners in a Midwestern state. Eighty eight were undeliverable and 373 usable surveys were returned yielding a 39% response rate. A majority of the respondents felt prepared and comfortable to work with clients who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual and 48% agreed that sexuality influences occupational choices. Twenty-nine percent agreed that sexual orientation influences occupational therapy treatment. Less than 20% of the respondents however, received education and used inclusive language in their documentation and only 14% reported having resources and supports services for clients who are gay, lesbian or bisexual. Effective education and policy-making strategies are necessary to ensure an accepting therapeutic environment and respect for the role of sexual orientation in the intervention process.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to occupational therapists? understanding of the experience of domestic violence, its impact on the lives of women, and the needs of these women as they journey towards independent and abuse-free lives. A phenomenological design was used to explore the experiences of five women living at a battered women?s shelter and five women who had been at the shelter and were now living on their own free of abuse. Five themes emerged to describe the women?s experiences of rebuilding their lives: 1) ?You owe yourself a life,? 2) ?It?s really all about connecting the dots,? 3) ?I don?t have an ounce of time to myself,? 4) It gets hard,? and 5) ?That was the road I traveled but this is now the road that I?m on.? The experiences of these women provide pause for occupational therapists to reflect upon their role in working with survivor?s of domestic violence.

This paper describes a creative teaching strategy that may be used by occupational therapy educators. The strategy is illustrated through the learning experience of five occupational therapy students in Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE) who participated in a project which involved teaching first year occupational therapy students. With guidance from their faculty advisor, the students developed a lecture on Occupational Science and designed a pre and posttest instrument to measure the first-year student?s learning as well as their own performance and learning. Qualitative data from the five PTE students provided insight into their teaching experience. This project afforded an opportunity for the students to apply and strengthen their problem-solving, interpersonal, and leadership skills, and teamwork. The doing aspect of preparing a lecture required various skills and knowledge that will benefit the students as future practitioners. The actual teaching of others allowed the students to experience being in the role of an educator. Such learning activities help to prepare students for their journey to becoming occupational therapists.

This phenomenological study describes the lived-experiences of night shift and the adaptive strategies used by night shift nurses. Eleven night shift nurses working in the nursery and birthing centers of two affiliated Midwestern hospitals in the United States participated in the study. Face to face, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using a qualitative approach to discover patterns and themes. Two themes emerged that reflected the lived experiences of the night shifters: (1) Living by night, sleeping by day: The masquerade, and (2) Relationships and family lives: A kaleidoscope. Two additional themes were identified to describe the adaptive strategies of the night shifters: (3) A ?just do it? attitude and (4) Tactics for nightlife. Findings of the study suggest that the temporal challenges and demands of night shift disrupt occupational routines, which are strongly influenced by the diurnal nature of humans. Many of the night shift nurses made sacrifices in order to fulfill their life-roles and re-establish meaningful occupational routines. As they struggled to adjust many also experienced feelings of guilt, as if they were wasting their day sleeping. The process of temporal adaptation to night shift is complex and continuous and affects all domains of the night shifter?s life.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to occupational therapists? understanding of the experience of domestic violence, its impact on the lives of women, and the needs of these women as they journey towards independent and abuse-free lives. A phenomenological design was used to explore the experiences of five women living at a battered women?s shelter and five women who had been at the shelter and were now living on their own free of abuse. Five themes emerged to describe the women?s experiences of rebuilding their lives: 1) ?You owe yourself a life,? 2) ?It?s really all about connecting the dots,? 3) ?I don?t have an ounce of time to myself,? 4) It gets hard,? and 5) ?That was the road I traveled but this is now the road that I?m on.? The experiences of these women provide pause for occupational therapists to reflect upon their role in working with survivor?s of domestic violence.