ABOUT
Sheila O'Connor
Sheila have been working as an Occupational Therapist since graduating in 2007. She started her career working as a Community OT in Kildare/West Wicklow. In September 2009, she took a career break and moved to Canada, where she worked as an OT in a Complex Neurological Care Unit with a Functional Enhancement Programme (FEP), which was an intensive three month rehabilitation programme.
In March 2011, she moved to New Zealand, initially working as an OT on acute medical wards, HDU and ICU working closely with people who had experienced Spinal Cord Injuries in Middlemore Hospital based in South Auckland. Sheila was also involved in assessing a person's fitness for transfer from Acute Care to Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit (ASRU).
Following this, she spent 5 years working as a Senior OT in Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, with responsibilities for in-patient and out-patient Services providing intervention and treatments such as splinting, hand therapy, wheeled mobility, postural management, housing adaptations, equipment prescription and Activities of Daily Living re-training.
In July 2016, Sheila moved back to Ireland joining the inter-disciplinary team in the Spinal Cord System of Care (SCSC) Programme at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dun Laoghaire. She positively contributed to OT department and SCSC Programme teams by engaging in regular supervision, educating and training junior members of the team and being open and flexible to new ways of working as they moved into the new purpose built hospital in 2020.
Separate to her role and responsibilities as a Senior OT within the SCSC Programme, Sheila was the Lead OT of a Splinting Clinic, which is Cross Programmatic and provides an interdisciplinary team client-centred approach to patients. She was also involved in many Service Development and Quality Improvement Projects within the NRH setting.
She is committed to her engagement in Continuing Professional Development as she has been provided with excellent learning experiences from working in different healthcare systems across the world.
Sheila is a registered Yoga Instructor with Yoga Alliance and she has completed numerous advanced teacher training modules to increase her knowledge on the Human Body and mindfulness.
Both professions complement each other and have equipped her with the skills and mindset to promote a client centred holistic approach to rehabilitation and provide yoga classes to a variety of people promoting a positive outlook on life and a person's well-being.
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BSc (Bachelor Of Science) in Occupational Therapy - University College Cork
4 years studying at UCC - 2004 until 2007
Qualified with a First Class Honours in 2007
6 months studying, training & practicing in 2013
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200 Hours Hot Yoga Teacher Training - Hot Yoga New Zealand
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Advanced Yoga Teacher Training - Power Living, Australia
Vinyasa: Level 2 – Mind Blowing Sequencing & Theming
Vinyasa: Level 3 – Next Level Teaching & Leadership Skills
Both teaching modules incorporated the principles of Applied Anatomy
to increase one's knowledge on the Human Body.