Behavioral Health Specialist, Psychiatry Float Pool

About the Role

Join the PSRU Psychiatry Float Pool at Cincinnati Children's College Hill Campus to support behavioral health care delivery across multiple psychiatric programs. This role offers variety, teamwork, and the opportunity to broaden behavioral health experience while supporting children, adolescents, families, and interdisciplinary care teams in a state-of-the-art mental health facility that opened in October 2023.

Why Join the PSRU Psychiatry Float Pool?

• Gain broad behavioral health experience by supporting multiple College Hill psychiatry care areas
• Provide direct patient care in a team-based setting and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams
• Use therapeutic communication, trauma-informed care, and de-escalation strategies to support youth in crisis
• Implement individualized patient care plans and document behavioral observations
• Help establish safe, stable, and nurturing environments across supported psychiatry programs
• Develop flexibility and confidence while adapting to different patient populations, team structures, and care environments

Responsibilities

Float Pool Support and Adaptability

• Float across supported College Hill psychiatric and behavioral health areas based on patient care and staffing needs
• Adapt quickly to unit-specific workflows, patient populations, care routines, and team expectations
• Provide consistent, reliable behavioral health support while maintaining safety standards and patient-centered care across settings
• Partner with nurses, Behavioral Health Facilitators, clinical managers, providers, and interdisciplinary team members to support continuity of care

Milieu Management and Patient Safety

• Create and support safe, stable, and nurturing environments that foster consistency, structure, and therapeutic engagement
• Support patients with a variety of psychiatric, behavioral, emotional, developmental, and neurodevelopmental needs
• Proactively prevent and respond to crises using Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) strategies, including verbal de-escalation and physical intervention when necessary due to imminent risk
• Lead or assist in behavioral crises, apply appropriate strategies based on individualized care plans, and collaborate with the interdisciplinary team
• Conduct safety checks, room searches, and patient safety searches in accordance with policy and unit expectations

Plan of Care and Therapeutic Support

• Implement individualized care plans, including behavioral interventions, structured supports, and activities of daily living as assigned
• Maintain designated observation status with accuracy and compassion, including continuous observation, 15-minute checks, or remaining within arm's length of a patient as directed
• Support patients in group and individualized programming based on treatment team recommendations and care area expectations
• Observe patient behavior, identify patterns or changes, and participate in problem-solving with the care team

Group Programming and Therapeutic Engagement

• Lead, co-lead, or support structured group programming when assigned to a care area that uses group-based interventions
• Facilitate patient engagement and modify communication or activities to meet developmental and clinical needs
• Build therapeutic rapport while maintaining professional boundaries and advocating for patient needs
• Use trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate communication to support psychological safety and patient participation

Documentation and Communication

• Complete accurate and timely documentation, including shift notes, incident documentation, behavioral observations, and safety checks
• Summarize events before and after target behaviors to support treatment planning and team awareness
• Actively participate in shift reports, safe handoff procedures, and communication with interdisciplinary team members
• Escalate safety concerns, changes in patient presentation, or care needs to nurses and clinical leadership

Professional Development and Team Collaboration

• Collaborate across disciplines using the Interprofessional Practice Model to support coordinated care
• Participate in required education, competency development, and ongoing training to support safe behavioral health practice
• Contribute to team culture through flexibility, reliability, respectful communication, and shared accountability
• Support new team members through role modeling and peer collaboration as appropriate

Qualifications

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent AND 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline OR Bachelor's degree in a related field

Preferred

• Experience in behavioral health, psychiatry, residential treatment, inpatient care, emergency services, education, coaching, direct support, or other human services setting
• Experience working with children or adolescents with behavioral, emotional, psychiatric, developmental, or neurodevelopmental needs
• Comfort adapting to multiple care environments and changing staffing needs
• Strong therapeutic communication, teamwork, de-escalation, documentation, and prioritization skills

About Us

At Cincinnati Children's, we come to work with one goal: to make children's health better. We believe in a holistic team approach, both in caring for patients and their families, and in advancing science and discovery. We strive to do better and find energy and inspiration in our shared purpose.

Cincinnati Children's is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top 10 best Children's Hospitals in the nation for more than 15 years, consistently among the top 3 Children's Hospitals for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding, and recognized as one of America's Best Large Employers (2025) and America's Best Employers for New Grads (2025). We are also noted as one of the nation's Most Innovative Companies by Fortune, consistently certified as a great place to work, a Leading Disability Employer by the National Organization on Disability, and Magnet® designated for the fourth consecutive time by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).