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Career Exploration

Psychiatric Aides

Also called: Mental Health Worker (MHW), Psychiatric Aide, Residential Care Tech (Residential Care Technician), Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW)

What they do:

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.

On the job, you would:
  • Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
  • Provide mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients 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.
On the job, you'll need:

Math and Science

  • psychology
  • sociology and anthropology

Business

  • customer service
  • administrative services

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Health

  • therapy and counseling

Basic Skills

  • talking to others
  • keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

Social

  • looking for ways to help people
  • understanding people's reactions

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

  • Concern for Others
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Self Control
  • Cooperation
  • Dependability
  • Social Orientation

Electronic mail software

  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Spreadsheet software

  • Microsoft Excel

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $37,160

Education

Some college or high school diploma/GED is usually needed.