hey christina just wanted to share with you my experience as i work in health care community based. i have two degrees one in OT and one is bus. management. i took the second for leadership growth in my later years..... lol
i have not been an OT for some time now but not because i couldnt do the job but because i ending up specializing in vision rehab. as a traditional ot i think it would be hard for me to lift patients on a daily basis so i am thankful my path changed sometime back. however, not to say i culdnt do it???? i dont know i am pretty stubborn when it comes to doing things. i think that is the OT in me! independence independence independence! find a way to do it ..... so that is how i live my life find alternate ways to do things that are harder for me to do now.
nursing does have a ton of avenues to choose. hospital nurses i think have the toughest jobs much harder than the nurse at my primaries office who maybe takes my temp? i know that might not be exciting enough for you? i have a friend who went into nursing late in life and did so for the cash! then she hated hospital care, hated hospice care, hated home helath care, and finally found teaching nursing and loves it! again many faces of nursing, which is your passion? public speaking is great. also i have a friend who has severe back problems so she works in the nursery. you already are a lactation specialist? maybe that would float your boat? cute little babies holding them, awwww.
as far as people go we cant live in plastic bubbles. i have stock in bath n body hand cleaner and use it after every home visit i go to. i also wash my hands like a million times a day and try not to touch my eyes nose and mouth during the course of the day. i am exposed to many different germs and enter some condemned homes, but knock on wood i am ok. heck we recently had a huge scare in town for hep a from a worker in a supermarket. life happens. tb, hep they are out there not only with known sick people ...... healthy looking people can be unknown carriers - but yes work does increase our risk if we allow it. universal precautions. they still use that phrase. i live by it.
that is another reason why i chose enbrel over humeria and remicade. i spoke to my rhuemmy and enbrel has the shortest life span in my system so if i do come in contact with something horrible my immune system wont be comprimised as long on enbrel as it would on the other meds. it works for me?
i feel you have to love what you do in life and if you do- you love life..... i love my job. i hope you find something that you love and the rest will fit in place.
sorry for the long reply. but like you and public speaking- i too do a lot of public speaking and i sometimes dont shut up! hahahahahaha hugs yally 