Nursing Assistant - Mental Health

Mental Health Nursing Assistant

A Mental Health Nursing Assistant (MHNA) will significantly enhance patient care and support organizational goals by improving efficiency, safety, and quality outcomes. Mental health patients often require specialized attention, emotional support, and continuous monitoring, which can be challenging for nurses managing high workloads. An MHNA provides dedicated assistance with therapeutic interventions, de-escalation techniques, and routine care, reducing stress on nursing staff and allowing them to focus on complex clinical tasks. Duties of the Nursing Assistant with Mental Health - Perry Point include, but are not limited to:

• Mental Health Nursing Assistant provides essential support to patients with psychiatric or behavioral health needs by assisting with daily living activities.
• Providing care to patients/residents with acute to chronic conditions in a health care setting. The significant factor is that they provide care under close supervision and refer issues/questions to supervisors, higher graded NAs or other healthcare professionals.
• Observe and document patient behaviors, report changes to nursing staff, and help implement therapeutic and recreational programs to promote emotional well-being.
• Appropriately utilizes glucose monitoring machine to collect and document appropriate glucose readings for assigned patient veteran.
• Bathing, dressing, and eating, while ensuring safety and comfort.
• Maintains a positive therapeutic relationships by displaying respect for human dignity with patient, families and/or significant others utilizing learned communication skills.
• Utilize observation skills for data collection, reporting and recording patient/resident observations.
• Performs aspects of nursing care to meet patient's needs for personal hygiene, physical comfort, activity, exercise, rest, nutrition, elimination, prevention of skin breakdown, rehabilitative aspects of care.
• Engages in group activities such as off-station trips, reality orientation, current events and other therapeutic groups, utilizing principles of proper body mechanics while caring for patients, reports patient observations to the RN and or other members of the treatment team.
• Sets up patient care related equipment, organizes and obtains routine supplies and equipment.
• Assists with orienting patient/family to unit routines and policies, work as a cooperative, courteous member of the interdisciplinary team.
• Under supervision, they may assist with medication administration and treatment plans, maintain a clean and secure environment, and intervene during crises to prevent harm.
• Offer empathetic communication and emotional support, fostering trust and stability for patients in their care.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: 3:30pm-12:00am Rotating every other weekend.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: Not available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: #512-26787-F, #512-26788-F, and #512-26789-F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized