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What They Do
About This Career
Assists 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.
This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.
A person in this career:
- Listens and provides emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
- Provides patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
- Completes physical checks and monitors patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and reports observations to professional staff.
- Restrains or aids patients as necessary to prevent injury.
- Works as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
- Records and maintains patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
- Maintains patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
- Organizes, supervises, or encourages patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities.
- Provides patients with assistance in bathing, dressing, or grooming, demonstrating these skills as necessary.
- Aids patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routines.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
- Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
- Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
- Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
- Seeing clearly at a distance
- Seeing clearly up close
- Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
- Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
Work Hours and Travel
- Rotating shift work
- Weekend work
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Developmental Aide
- Qualified Medication Aide (QMA)
- Residential Care Tech (Residential Care Technician)
- Mental Health Aide (MHA)
- Mental Health Worker (MHW)
- Psychiatric Nursing Aide
- Psychiatric Assistant
- Resident Care Technician (Resident Care Tech)
- Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW)
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
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