Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Occupational Therapy Doctorate

Department

Brain Health

First Committee Member

Sharon Jalene

Number of Pages

65

Abstract

Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) play a crucial and demanding role in acute care, addressing complex diagnoses and facilitating safe discharge; however, the fast-paced biomedical environment often pressures them to compromise their occupation-based philosophy, potentially leading to professional burnout and low retention rates. Although professional identity (the self-perception of one's role) and a sense of belonging (feeling valued and connected) are recognized as correlated concepts vital for professional resilience, this relationship remains critically underexplored within the acute care OT population. Guided by the Occupational Adaptation Model (Schkade & Schultz, 1992), this qualitative study explores how experienced occupational therapists working in an acute care setting cultivate their sense of belonging and professional identity. Through purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews, and observation, this research used inductive thematic analysis to analyze the factors, such as organizational culture, leadership, and interpersonal relationships, that potentially enable OTPs to successfully master the challenges of this demanding environment. Three themes emerged: (1) internal identity of the OTP, (2) asserting occupational therapy lens, (3) cultural integration into acute care. Developing professional identity is an ongoing process, and it is when the OTP feels competent and confident in their role that they feel a sense of belonging within their acute care environment.

Keywords

Acute Care; Occupational Therapy; Professional Identity; Sense of Belonging

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy

File Format

PDF

File Size

1212 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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