Mental Health Care Technician

Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:

• Administer intravenous medications.
• Administer non-intravenous medications.
• Assist healthcare practitioners during examinations or treatments.
• Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities.
• Care for patients with mental illnesses.
• Position patients for treatment or examination.
• Treat patients using psychological therapies.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
• Inform medical professionals regarding patient conditions and care.
• Maintain medical facility records.

Typical Working Conditions

• Working with a group or team.
• Exposure to disease or infections.
• Frequent contact with others.
• Dealing with unpleasant or angry people.
• Responsibility for others’ health and safety.
• Close physical proximity with other people.
• The importance of being accurate or exact.
• Meeting strict deadlines.
• Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
• Walking and running.

Tools & Technology used by Health Care Technicians

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

Most Important Skills for Health Care Technicians

• Being Aware of Others—Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading—Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking—Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Monitoring Performance—Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Helping Others—Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Understanding How People Learn—Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
• Learning New Things—Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Most Important Knowledge Areas for Health Care Technicians

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Sociology and Anthropology—Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• Law and Government—Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Clerical—Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:

• Social—Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• Enterprising—Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

Low indicates 25% of workers earn less and 75% earn more. Median indicates 50% of workers earn less and 50% earn more. High indicates 75% of workers earn less and 25% earn more.

Demand
This career is seeing very high growth compared to other careers.  There will be a need for about 225 new Psychiatric Technicians to meet market demand between 2018-2028. This includes the demand due to replacement (workers leaving the occupation or retiring) as well as growth.

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise

This career typically requires at least some college, such an Associates degree.

View the local post-secondary education options from our partners: Central Lakes College & MSTATE.

Helpful High School Courses
Examples of helpful classes that help you prepare for this career:

• Anatomy
• Chemistry
• Community Health
• Computer Applications
• Human Development
• Medical Ethics
• Nutrition
• Research Methods
• Safety and First Aid/CPR
• Sociology
• Statistics
• World Languages

Source: Minnesota CAREERwise