What they do
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Assist 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. Includes psychiatric orderlies.
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| Also called: |
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Mental Health Aide (MHA), Mental Health Worker (MHW), Psychiatric Aide, Psychiatric Nursing Aide, Psychiatric Nursing Assistant, Resident Care Technician, Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW)
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Wages
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| Vermont - 2021 |
| Percentile1 | Hourly | Yearly |
| 10% |
$ 13.86 |
$28,820 |
| 25% |
$ 14.51 |
$30,180 |
| Median |
$ 17.48 |
$36,360 |
| 75% |
$ 18.03 |
$37,500 |
| 90% |
$ 21.29 |
$44,280 |
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| Average |
$ 16.82 |
$34,990 |
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| More at CareerOneStop |
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Industries of Employment
| United States - 2020 |
| Industry | Percent of total |
- Hospitals; state, local, and private
| 55% |
- State government, excluding education and hospitals
| 22% |
- Nursing and residential care facilities
| 12% |
- Ambulatory healthcare services
| 6% |
- Local government, excluding education and hospitals
| 3% |
| More at BLS |
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Knowledge
| People in this career often know a lot about: |
- Psychology
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
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- English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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- Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
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- Therapy and Counseling
Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
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- Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
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| More at O*NET |
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Skills
| People in this career often have these skills: |
- Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
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- Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
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- Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
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- Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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- Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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| More at O*NET |
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Interests
| People in this career often prefer these work environments: |
- Social
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
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- Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
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- Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
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| What are your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler |
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Work Styles
| People in this career will do well at jobs that need: |
- Self-Control
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
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- Concern for Others
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
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- Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
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- Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
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- Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
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| More at O*NET |
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Other Resources
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- CareerOneStop
resource for job seekers, students, businessess and career professionals
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- O*NET Online
nation's primary source of occupational information
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| Related Occupations
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| Career Video
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Projected Employment
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| Vermont |
| 2020 employment |
177 |
| 2030 employment |
198 |
Annual percent change
(compounded) |
1.1% |
Annual projected job openings
(due to change and separations) |
25 |
| More at Occupational Projections |
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Education and Experience:
- Typical education needed for entry
High school diploma or equivalent
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- Work experience in a related occupation
None
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- Typical on-the-job training needed to attain competency
Short-term on-the-job training
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| Based on BLS Education and Training Classifications |
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Job Zone
| Some Preparation Needed |
- Specific Vocational Preparation Range
(4.0 to < 6.0) - A typical worker will require
over 3 months up to and including 1 year
of training to achieve average performance in this occupation.
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| Based on O*Net Job Zones and SVP |
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Education Level
| How much education do most people in this career have? |
| Education level |  | Percent of
U.S. Workers |
Doctoral or professional degree
or post-MA certificate | | 0% |
Master's degree or
post-BA certificate | | 2% |
| Bachelor's degree | | 12% |
| Associate's degree | | 4% |
Certificate or some college,
no degree | | 19% |
High school diploma
or equivalent | | 63% |
| Less than high school diploma | | 0% |
| More at O*NET |
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Abilities
| People in this career often have talent in: |
- Oral Comprehension
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
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- Oral Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
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- Problem Sensitivity
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
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- Inductive Reasoning
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
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- Deductive Reasoning
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
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| More at O*NET |
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Work Activities
| In general, what you might do: |
- Assisting and Caring for Others
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
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- Getting Information
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
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- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
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- Documenting/Recording Information
Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
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- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
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| More at O*NET |
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Detailed Work Activities
| What you might do in a day: |
- Maintain medical records.
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- Record vital statistics or other health information.
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- Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
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- Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment.
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- Monitor patients to detect health problems.
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| More at O*NET |
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Tasks
| On the job, you would: |
- Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
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- Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
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- Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
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- Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
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- Serve meals or feed patients needing assistance or persuasion.
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| More at O*NET |
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