Occupational Therapy Grad Student Uses Nursing Triage Skills to Juggle School, Work and Life

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Nurse and graduate student Sarah Arenas chats with Occupational Therapy professor Mark Koch and a classmate prior to the pandemic.

Sarah Arenas, among the first 27 students to join the University of Arkansas' new occupational therapy doctoral program last year, believes the graduate degree will complement her skills as a nurse — and her patients will be the beneficiaries.

"I still love being a nurse," she said. "For me it's not a matter of leaving a career to begin another; my experience in nursing contributes to my learning in my grad program and learning to be an OT has made me a better nurse in terms of how I can best assist my clients."

The program is a joint offering between the College of Education and Health Professions at the U of A and the College of Health Professions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Arenas was introduced to occupational therapy while working at the Elizabeth Richardson Center preschool in Northwest Arkansas. She also happened to be in her second semester of nursing school, and she noticed how the preschool's occupational therapist was able to help the kids reach certain goals that nursing couldn't. Nursing's role is different, she said.

"I think the beauty of this profession is that occupational therapy belongs everywhere from family practice, to pediatrics or geriatrics, to mental health or working with victims of trauma," she said. "There's really no limit to who we can help.

"I just love to help people. It kept me in nursing and drives me in OT."

Arenas, who was raised in Springdale and is the mother of three young children, said her heart is softest for people who are marginalized. She's on the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and her capstone project in the occupational therapy program is shaping up to be geared toward advocacy and policy change.

Arenas would like to eventually work with students who speak English as a second language to help them succeed in higher education.  

"I'm bilingual and my husband and children are Hispanic, so this is very personal to me," she said.

It's not easy to manage graduate school, motherhood and a full workload as a nurse at Northwest Health System, but Arenas said budgeting and prioritizing her time is second nature now.

"I read something recently about how finding work/life balance is like juggling — and not just three balls, more like 20. Some of the balls are glass, some are plastic, and what they're made of changes continuously," she said. "I identify with that because the truth is, I cannot be the best mother, employee and student I can be simultaneously.

"I have to use my nurse side to triage what is a glass ball that needs to be a priority right now — and what can be a plastic ball that may get dropped."

Arenas said her support system — which includes her parents, in-laws and friends — is also a vital part of the successful juggling act.

"They provide strength and stability in balancing the program and life," she said.