Mental Health Technician (CRU)

Job Summary

Under the direct supervision of the Unit Charge Nurse, the Behavioral Technician helps maintain a safe, supportive, and therapeutic environment for individuals in mental health crisis. This role requires emotional sensitivity, adaptability, and proactive behavioral observation. Working closely with a multidisciplinary team, the technician monitors individuals, assists with daily activities, and responds compassionately to behavioral changes. The ideal candidate is empathetic, person-centered, and thrives in dynamic settings. This position will work 3.12-hour shifts with rotating weekends.

Schedule

The schedule for this role is three 12-hour shifts, including every other weekend (Saturday and Sunday). We are hiring for both day shift and night shift clinicians.

• Day Shift: 7:00 AM – 7:30 PM
• Night Shift: 7:00 PM – 7:30 AM

Essential Functions

• Affords assistance to nursing staff with duties as directed, for example: patient supervision, vitals, room searches, patient searches, etc.
• Recognizes, responds to, and assists in crisis situations and provides interventions as necessary.
• Delivers indirect and selected direct patient care as directed by facility leadership.
• Conducts intake processes, searches of belongings and patients and completes BAC’s and drug screen observations as directed by facility leadership.
• Maintains monitoring of patient activity and documents any significant patient issues.
• Records rounds and ensures patient safety as specified in EHR.
• Conducts regular facility and grounds checks, advising facility leadership of any irregularities or safety concerns.
• Notifies and reports any health and safety issues, significant patient concerns and any out of the ordinary occurrences to facility leadership immediately.
• Completes all documentation requirements prior to the end of the shift.
• Performs basic housekeeping duties.
• Facilitates and leads daily groups as directed by facility leadership if applicable.
• Attends all staff meetings and in-service trainings.
• Completes all online training, policy verification, and ensures that their employee HR file is kept up to date.

Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Education: High school diploma or GED; Associate degree or higher preferred
• Licensure: Valid driver’s license required
• Training Requirements:
• BLS Recipient
• Right’s De-escalation training
• Completion of agency-specific onboarding and crisis intervention training
• Ongoing professional development in trauma-informed care and recovery coaching
• Experience Requirements:
• Minimum of 1 year of experience working with a crisis, hospital or school environment.
• Preferred Experience: Experience in working with Electronic Health Record systems, experience in customer service, experience in crisis de-escalation, experience working with adults with severe mental illness, substance use disorder or intellectual/developmental disabilities, experience working with children with serious emotional disturbance.

Job Specific Competencies/Skills

• Interpersonal Skills: Strong
• Organizational Skills: Strong
• De-escalation and Conflict Resolution: Strong
• Clinical Knowledge: Strong
• Time Management: Strong
• Ability to Remain Calm and Supportive: Strong
• Flexibility: Strong
• High Emotional Intelligence and Empathy: Strong
• Strong Critical Thinking and Decision-Making Abilities: Strong

Knowledge Requirements

• HIPPA: Microsoft 365
• Recipients: Mental Health Code, Medicaid Manual, Oakland Community Health Network’s Core Competencies

Additional Information

• (Travel required, physical requirements, on-call schedules, etc.): Must be available for meetings and events which may occur outside of standard office hours. Work performed primarily in a crisis center environment. The ideal candidate must be able to complete all physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.
• OCHN is committed to building a diverse team and fostering an inclusive and equitable culture. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer that embraces and encourages our employees’ differences. This includes (but is not limited to) ability, age, color, family type, gender expression and identity, individual expression, medical conditions, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, and all other diverse and wonderful characteristics.