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Psychiatric Aides
Assist mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients, working under direction of nursing and medical staff. May assist with daily living activities, lead patients in educational and recreational activities, or accompany patients to and from examinations and treatments. May restrain violent patients. Includes psychiatric orderlies.
Also Known As:
Developmental Aide
Mental Health Aide (MHA)
Mental Health Worker (MHW)
Psychiatric Aide
Psychiatric Assistant
Psychiatric Nursing Aide
Qualified Medication Aide (QMA)
Resident Care Technician (Resident Care Tech)
Residential Care Tech (Residential Care Technician)
Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW)
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
Connecticut's
2034 Projected Employment
490
9% Change From 2024
United States
2034 Projected Employment
38,300
0% Change From 2024
Explore Psychiatric Technicians video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
- Work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
- Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
- Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
- Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
- Organize, supervise, or encourage patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities.
- Aid patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routines.
- Serve meals or feed patients needing assistance or persuasion.
- Accompany patients to and from wards for medical or dental treatments, shopping trips, or religious or recreational events.
- Interview patients upon admission and record information.
- Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
- Perform nursing duties, such as administering medications, measuring vital signs, collecting specimens, or drawing blood samples.
- Perform nursing duties, such as administering medications, measuring vital signs, collecting specimens, or drawing blood samples.
- Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
- Provide patients with assistance in bathing, dressing, or grooming, demonstrating these skills as necessary.
- Complete administrative tasks, such as entering orders into computer, answering telephone calls, or maintaining medical or facility information.
- Perform nursing duties, such as administering medications, measuring vital signs, collecting specimens, or drawing blood samples.
- Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
- Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
- Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
- Aid patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routines.
- Clean and disinfect rooms and furnishings to maintain a safe and orderly environment.
- Complete administrative tasks, such as entering orders into computer, answering telephone calls, or maintaining medical or facility information.
- Participate in recreational activities with patients, including card games, sports, or television viewing.
- Interview patients upon admission and record information.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")