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