Work That Matters: Healthcare Careers Where You Actually Get to Know Your Patients

If you’re working in healthcare, you don’t have to find yourself rushing from patient to patient every fifteen minutes or spending your day buried in paperwork, trying to remember the names of the many patients you treat. Although the nature of work in hospitals and many clinics puts healthcare providers in a position where they don’t have an opportunity to develop a relationship with those receiving care, there are numerous healthcare career options that center on being able to develop an actual relationship with patients over time.

These jobs offer what is in short supply in contemporary healthcare, the opportunity to develop a sense of understanding for the people receiving care, their lives, and how you can make a genuine difference in their day-to-day existence. If you’re a provider who feels exhausted by the factory-like pace of work in many clinical settings, consider one of these positions with a different focus.

The Benefits of Developing a Long-Term Relationship with Patients

There are many benefits that come with working with the same patients over the course of weeks, months, or even years – benefits that don’t exist when it comes to traditional, brief clinical interactions. Many providers who take on these types of roles report feeling much more satisfied with their positions because they see the results of their efforts over time.

A healthcare worker who regularly treats the same patient begins to recognize the subtle changes that may hint that something is wrong. They know what is “normal” for each patient, and can effectively detect when something has gone wrong. It’s not uncommon for these relationships to lead to better healthcare outcomes due to their continuity.

These roles also come with emotional benefits, too. Instead of treating patients as lists of symptoms or “cases,” healthcare providers get to know these individuals as people with rich and diverse histories, relationships with family and friends, and even personalities. Many providers report feeling satisfaction at being seen as someone that patients look forward to interacting with.

Work in Home Healthcare Settings

One of the fastest-growing areas for this type of work is in home healthcare settings. Home health aides, personal care aides, and visiting nurses provide healthcare around the home, which lends itself naturally to fostering more personal connections than that fostered by connections made in a clinical setting.

These types of healthcare workers gain insight into a variety of factors regarding their patients: how they live, what types of challenges they might face while living or working in their home, and even the people they care about most. For example, a home health aide might work with an elderly patient several times per week for months on end, assisting them with things like medication administration, mobility issues, and providing companionship.

For those interested in exploring these meaningful opportunities, Careers in Home Care offer various paths for building lasting relationships with patients while providing essential healthcare services. Personal care assistants often become important parts of their clients’ support systems, celebrating good days and providing comfort during difficult times.

Mental Healthcare Positions

Providers working as mental healthcare workers such as therapists, counselors, or social workers tend to work with clients over the course of months or even years, building powerful relationships that lead to personal transformations. Unlike other aspects of healthcare where providers focus on physical ailments, mental healthcare often requires a long-term commitment – both from the patient and provider.

Therapists often aren’t seeing patients “cure” themselves after just one session; rather, changes happen over time – often slowly. For example, a therapist may work with someone suffering from debilitating anxiety for six months before seeing significant developments in their mental well-being. While this can be draining work at times, seeing these transformations as they do happen can be deeply rewarding for the therapist.

Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy

Like mental healthcare workers, physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) all work with patients continuously over a number of weeks or sometimes months as patients heal from their injuries or medical procedures.

Unlike many other areas of healthcare that deal with more emergent issues, rehabilitation and therapy types of jobs involve building relationships over a longer timeframe. Because these patients are recovering from injuries or surgeries during their period of treatment, treatment times tend to last longer than those provided in other settings.

Physical therapists often witness miraculous transformations as patients progress through rehabilitation and finally recover from what injured or prohibited them from acting as they normally would.

Nursing Facilities

Nursing homes and assisted living centers may be institutionalized settings; however, they still allow for workers such as certified nursing assistants (CNAs), activity coordinators, etc. to interact continuously over long periods with the same “clients” (or residents).

Though nursing homes and other long-term care facilities may be difficult to work at times due to having to experience loss regularly and witness declines in the residents who live there, many workers report that this aspect of their role still comes with deep satisfaction at being able to provide dignity and comfort during these vulnerable times.

Consider Your Options

For those looking to get out of a fast-paced job requiring them to interact only briefly (and often impersonally) with their patients, consider which type of job you’d like to transition into. Some workers prefer the more intimate settings of home-based care; others may prefer to work in assisted living centers or outpatient therapy clinics.

This type of work setting requires many of the same skills you possess as an effective medical professional. However, it also requires additional skills that some may not be accustomed to working within clinical settings. Skills you may want to improve upon include patience, good communication skills, emotional intelligence towards your patients, and more! For those looking for a refresher course regarding transitioning into these types of jobs, these skills are equally essential in the following type of workplaces. For many healthcare professionals, this potential transition is returning back home; it’s returning back to serving clients as competent health workers while providing compassionate care and respect for those we serve.