As an occupational therapist, I will not earn more if I go above and beyond everyday

Than if I detached and didn't care and didn't do my job. 

Insurance will pay the same cut to me as it pays to everyone else. 

My institution will pay me on its scale for my job title. 

I could just not listen. I could just teach skills. I could just do my job. It's easier to comply with time requirements. I don't have to ask the kind questions. I could document blandly while people leak sadness from eye wells, and I wouldn't be penalized. At many places, that would still be "doing my job."

But you see, caring is the difference between a job and a vocation. 

Caring is the difference between being a robot and a human.

The vocation allows one to confront and comfort and sit in someone's experience, and to gently guide them out of pain

While the job leaves them in a dark pit with a rope cast down but not the sight to see it. No guidance to it.

In some ways, the simple fact that pay is not performance-based keeps it pure. I will not confuse caring with a reward. Intrinsic motivation to do a good job and to serve others must be present.