Supporting early career occupational therapists to thrive: Insights from practice

A strong theme is the importance of belonging. 

For Jeanette, an occupational therapy degree apprentice, feeling part of the team was instrumental in their journey into the profession. Having started as a therapy assistant, they described quickly settling into the team, enjoying collaborative working and feeling encouraged to pursue occupational therapy as a career. The encouragement of colleagues and the support of the organisation played an important role in their decision to undertake a degree apprenticeship.  

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I quickly settled into this role and really enjoyed working with patients and the wider MDT team.

Similarly, Sophie, an early career occupational therapist in her first rotation, described a positive transition into practice. She attributed this to a structured induction, opportunities to work alongside different staff members and having support readily available as she settled into her role. 

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I've been so very welcomed into the new team.

Occupational therapy leaders recognised the importance of these early experiences. As one leader explained: 

 "We just make sure we have got a thorough induction for them... and that they are not just shoved into a ward by themselves" 

These experiences suggest that belonging does not happen by accident. It begins before registration and continues throughout the transition into professional practice. It requires intentional effort. Thorough inductions, supportive rotations, mentoring arrangements and opportunities to build relationships were all viewed as important elements of successful transition into practice.  

Supportive relationships matter 

When asked what positively helps their wellbeing, both early career contributors highlighted people. 

For Sophie, supervision was not simply a scheduled meeting.  

My supervisor said to me right at the beginning, don't worry, if you need me, just ring me.

Knowing that support was readily available provided reassurance during moments of uncertainty.  Regular supervision, approachable senior staff and the confidence to seek guidance helped her navigate challenging situations and develop trust in her own clinical reasoning. A particularly powerful example arose when she encountered a clinical situation and questioned her own judgement. After seeking support, she experienced a significant shift in confidence. 

It gave me a little bit more confidence in myself to think I can clinically reason something. 

For Jeanette, mentorship played a similarly important role and even when away from their usual workplace, they knew support remained available:  

My mentor attends all my reviews from my university, helps me map my progress, identifies opportunities for further learning and encourages me within my day-to-day job role. 

The occupational therapy leaders described a range of formal support mechanisms, including supervision, mentoring, preceptorship, regular check-ins and structured handovers between rotations. However, they also recognised that support is often experienced through everyday interactions and relationships. 

One leader emphasised the importance of acting early when staff need support: 

"If you see they are struggling, you should get that support in straight away"

Confidence develops through learning 

One of the most interesting findings was the close connection between learning and wellbeing. Early career occupational therapists are not expected to know everything, yet many can place pressure on themselves to feel fully competent from day one. 

Sophie described how challenging situations, supported reflection and opportunities to develop new skills helped her grow professionally. 

Both Sophie and Jeanette described confidence as something that develops gradually through experience, supported challenge and opportunities to learn. 

The occupational therapy leaders also emphasised the importance of creating opportunities for professional development, training and ongoing learning. They highlighted competency frameworks, professional forums and educational opportunities as ways of helping staff build confidence and capability, and fundamental to wellbeing and attributed it to being important in their successful retention of their occupational therapy workforce. 

"There's a lot of work that has been done around competencies to give that structure to people coming into stroke to feel skilled and knowledgeable in that area, to want to stay." 

Wellbeing is more than a service 

The conversations highlighted a wide range of wellbeing resources available within the organisation. These included wellbeing champions, psychological support services, stress risk assessments, health and wellbeing initiatives, mentoring opportunities and reasonable adjustments where required. However, the most significant insight was that wellbeing is about more than having services available. It is also about creating an environment where people feel able to access them. 

Sophie acknowledged that seeking support can sometimes feel daunting, even when services are readily available. She reflected that asking for help can feel uncomfortable but encouraged others to take that first step if they need support. 

Sometimes its just the triage phone calls. Its absolutely brilliant because you think, actually I have just told you something that's been on my chest.

Jeanette also highlighted the realities of balancing work, study and personal commitments throughout a degree programme, reinforcing the importance of support mechanisms that recognise the whole person rather than just the employee or learner. 

These reflections highlight that wellbeing support needs to be both available and accessible, creating environments where people feel able to seek help when they need it. 

As occupational therapy continues to invest in its future workforce, these reflections demonstrate that supporting wellbeing is not an additional activity. Rather, it is a fundamental part of creating environments where occupational therapists can develop, flourish and build sustainable careers. The experiences shared by Sophie, Jeanette, Angela and Nicola demonstrate what can be achieved when wellbeing is embedded not only in processes and policies, but also in everyday culture and practice.