Mental Health Technician (Nursing) (Santa Rosa)

Mental Health Technician

The Mental Health Worker provides direct patient care to all patients with emotional or psychiatric disorders, supports therapeutic milieu, ensures safety and well-being of patients and carries out general nursing assistance necessary to treatment of adolescents, adults, or older adult patients as assigned. The Mental Health Worker is the primary person responsible for the safety of the unit milieu. Environmental safety rounds are required each shift and ongoing safety assessments including securing contraband found within the milieu will be completed by the Mental Health Worker. Safety Observations are required to be documented and recorded in the patient's medical record as ordered by the psychiatric provider or under the direction of the Registered Nurse. The Mental Health Technician maintains knowledge of, participates in further training provided, and understands the potential risks regarding occupational health hazards (e.g. bloodborne pathogen exposures).

Key Responsibilities:

• Participate in treatment planning
• Helps identify patients' problems, needs, and strengths
• Suggests modifications to treatment plan based on observations of patients' behavior
• Provides input into discharge planning.
• Participate in implementing patients' treatment plans by monitoring patients' progress
• Communicating information regarding patients' behavior to other members of treatment team
• Maintains communication with patient, family members, and referral sources in patients' interests
• Co-facilitates didactic, educational, and community groups within the context of the adolescent treatment program
• Encourages and facilitates patients' participation in therapeutic activities
• Supervises patients to ensure their safety and their involvement in treatment
• Provides input during shift report.
• Accompany and transport patients as assigned.
• Orient new patients to unit, program, and milieu.
• Assists patients in carrying out activities of daily living, when congruent with the patients' treatment plan and needs, age, and developmental level.
• Maintains a safe, orderly, and therapeutic physical environment for patients.
• Participates in maintaining the therapeutic milieu on the unit, enforces the level system or other methods of behavior management.
• Maintain patient, program, department, and related documentation.
• Carry out clerical and administrative assignment to support patient care and department and organization operations.
• Complete orientation and competency assessments as required for position.
• Participate in activities enhancing professional growth and development.
• Assist patients with activities of daily living such as hygiene and toileting.
• Upholds the Organization's ethics and customer service standards. Performs related duties, as requested.

Northern California Behavioral Health System