Mental Health Assistant: 36hrs/week, Nights

Mental Health Assistant

The Mental Health Assistant (MHA) functions as a member of the health care team under the supervision of the Registered Professional Nurse utilizing principles of psychiatric care. Assists in giving and recording direct patient care and such unit maintenance as necessary to provide patient comfort and safety.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Collects pertinent data and information relative to the patient's health or situation, including vital signs, height and weight, and food and fluid intake and output.
• Reports abnormal findings to the RN and patient care team.
• Participates in care planning and the nursing report process.
• Incorporates patient/family rights to participate in decision making about their care.
• Utilizes standardized techniques for keeping patients and families informed.
• Provides personal care to patients including bathing, oral care, and skin care.
• Assists the patient with eating and hydration, grooming, dressing, and toileting.
• Incorporates safe patient handling into basic restorative care such as ambulation, range of motion and use of assistive and prosthetic devices.
• Employs strategies to promote a clean, orderly, and safe environment.
• Demonstrates standard and transmission-based precautions and infection control techniques.
• Provides details related to patient progress toward the achievement of goals and outcomes to the RN.
• Documents all care in the patient record.
• Supports a system that encourages the identification and analysis of errors and near misses in the context of a safety culture.
• Participates in departmental safety inspections to assure compliance with hospital safety standards as assigned.
• Is aware of and compliant with all hospital and regulatory agency safety goals and objectives as well as limitations of unlicensed assistive care.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma/G.E.D. - required
• Associate's Degree - preferred
• Previous Mental Health related experience - preferred
• CPR - Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation Upon Hire - required
• BCLS - Basic Life Support Upon Hire - required

Thank you for your interest in Albany Med Health System! Albany Med Health System is an equal opportunity employer.

This role may require access to information considered sensitive to Albany Med Health System, its patients, affiliates, and partners, including but not limited to HIPAA Protected Health Information and other information regulated by Federal and New York State statutes. Workforce members are expected to ensure that:

Access to information is based on a "need to know" and is the minimum necessary to properly perform assigned duties. Use or disclosure shall not exceed the minimum amount of information needed to accomplish an intended purpose. Reasonable efforts, consistent with Albany Med Health System policies and standards, shall be made to ensure that information is adequately protected from unauthorized access and modification.