Psychiatric Technician- HCPC 3E -General Psychiatric Adult Unit- Day Shift

UTHealth Houston; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

UTHealth Houston's John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center is hiring a Psychiatric Technician to support adults on HCPC Unit 3E. The role focuses on safety, direct patient care, and maintaining a therapeutic environment under licensed staff supervision.

Ideal candidates show compassion, dependability, and strong communication, with crisis-response abilities and adherence to policies. Unit duties include 12-hour day shifts, with rotating weekends and orientation.

Qualifications

• Minimum education: high school diploma or equivalent required.
• CPR certification required; CNA/MA/NREMT preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provides inpatient and outpatient non-skilled nursing for psychiatric patients.
• Supervises patients on suicide or other critical precautions (1:1 or 2:1).
• Operates equipment such as IVAC, Sphygmomanometer and Scale.
• Assists patients with activities of daily living while respecting privacy.
• Engages with patients using trauma-informed care and therapeutic communication strategies.
• Participates in implementing and formulating patients' treatment plans based on observation.
• Maintains a therapeutic milieu and uses crisis de-escalation strategies.
• Facilitates patients' groups and participation in therapeutic activities.
• Implements crisis management skills as directed by licensed staff.
• Must be able to restrain patients when necessary according to unit guidelines.
• Escorts patients for medical emergencies and diagnostic procedures.
• Conducts patient Q15 and Q30 minute observation rounds with documentation.
• Performs unit environmental safety rounds.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Skills

CPR certification

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Job description

UTHealth Houston's John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center is hiring a Psychiatric Technician to join our behavioral health team on HCPC Unit 3E, a General Adult Psychiatric Unit. This position provides direct patient care and support to adults receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment and plays a critical role in maintaining a safe, structured, and therapeutic environment that promotes patient recovery, dignity, and safety.

We are seeking compassionate, dependable, and observant individuals who are committed to supporting patients through periods of acute psychiatric illness while working collaboratively with nurses and the interdisciplinary treatment team. The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to effectively respond to crisis situations while ensuring patient safety and adherence to established policies and procedures.

Unit Information and Work Environment

HCPC Unit 3E is a 24-bed inpatient general adult psychiatric unit that provides care to adults ages 18 and older who require acute psychiatric stabilization and treatment. The unit serves a diverse patient population with a broad range of behavioral health diagnoses and complex psychosocial needs.

Patients may be admitted voluntarily or involuntarily and require comprehensive psychiatric care, medication management, crisis intervention, therapeutic programming, and discharge planning. The unit emphasizes a recovery-oriented approach while maintaining a safe and structured therapeutic environment.

Working on Unit 3E offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on patients during some of their most vulnerable moments. Staff members are expected to actively engage with patients, monitor behaviors, assist with activities of daily living, facilitate therapeutic activities, and support individualized treatment goals.

Typical Staffing Levels and Team Structure

The Psychiatric Technician works as part of a multidisciplinary behavioral health team that typically includes:

• 2 Registered Nurses (RNs)
• 2 Psychiatric Technicians (Psych Techs)

This collaborative staffing model supports patient safety, therapeutic engagement, communication, and coordinated responses to patient and unit needs.

Schedule

Day Shift: 7:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

• 12-hour shifts
• Matrix scheduling pattern with alternating weekends: 2 days on, 2 days off, 3 days on, repeating cycle
• Required to work every other weekend
• Scheduled for a minimum of 84 hours within a two-week pay period
• Mandatory Orientation: Two-week onboarding process for all new hires
• Hospital-Wide Education Orientation: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM (first two weeks)

Please note: Team members may be required to float to other behavioral health units throughout the hospital based on staffing needs and patient census to support patient care and operational requirements.

What we do here changes the world.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue!
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service)
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!

We take care of our employees!

As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!

Position Summary

The Psychiatric Technician focuses on safety, performing patient care activities or tasks for psychiatric patients as well as maintaining a therapeutic and safe environment under the direction of the licensed staff. Must be comfortable working with mental health patients, many of whom have experienced trauma, in a compassionate and professional manner while promoting a safe environment.

Position Key Accountabilities

• Provides inpatient and outpatient non-skilled nursing for psychiatric patients.
• Provides supervision of patients on suicide or other critical precautions, 1:1 or 2:1, which requires a staff member to be within continuous arm 's length of a patient.
• Responsible for operating equipment such as IVAC, Sphygmomanometer and Scale.
• Assists patients with activities of daily living i.e. bathing, shaving, hygiene, toileting, and grooming, while respecting the patient 's privacy, to the extent possible.
• Interacts and engages with patients in a therapeutic manner using Trauma informed care and therapeutic communication strategies.
• Participates in implementing and formulating patients' treatment plan based on experience and close observation of patients.
• Helps maintain a therapeutic milieu. Assists with milieu management and uses crisis de-escalation and trauma informed care strategies to reduce destructive and disruptive patient behavior and ensures the safety of patient, self, and others. Recognizes early warning signs of worsening patient behaviors and intervenes appropriately.
• Facilitates patients' groups and participation in therapeutic activities (i.e. community meeting, transition, and wrap-up groups etc.).
• Implements crisis management skills (de-escalation skills) as directed by licensed staff, including situations where the patient could be in danger, suffer self-inflicted harm, or harm others.
• Must be able to restrain an adult, adolescent, or pediatric patient within the guidelines currently in use at HCPC, including circumstances where the patient is violent or aggressive towards staff and others, including other patients.
• In certain circumstances, must be able to maintain initial physical control of an adult, adolescent or pediatric patient individually until assistance from other team members arrive.
• Escorts patients on and off campus for medical emergencies and diagnostic procedures when required.
• Conducts patient Q15 and Q30 minutes observation rounds with appropriate documentation, and one to one observation. Observes patient condition for signs/symptoms consistent with illness or mental status change; reports observations about patient condition to the nurse.
• Conducts environmental rounds on unit for safety.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Certification/Skills

• None
• Work may involve handling biohazardous, chemical, and radiological materials, as well as operating associated equipment. Required safety training and appropriate engineering and administrative controls including the use of personal protective equipment must be followed.
• Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) by American Red Cross or American Heart Association (AHA) required
• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) by Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) preferred or
• Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (MA) by National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT) preferred or
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) by National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) preferred

Minimum Education: High School Diploma or equivalent required

Minimum Experience: 1 year of experience as a Mental Health Technician/Psychiatric Technician or successful completion of the Psychiatric Technician Internship program required

Physical Requirements: Exerts up to 50 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 20 pounds frequently and/or up to 10 pounds constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive

This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code 51.215 and Texas Government Code 411.094. To the extent that a position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code 117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired for and to continue to be employed in that position. Personnel in such positions, and similarly situated state contractors, will be routinely reviewed to determine whether things such as criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the applicant, employee, or contractor from being able to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure. A foreign adversary is a nation listed in 15 C.F.R.

Military occupations that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position may include but are not limited to: 46P1, 46P3, 46P4, 46PX, 66C, 001387, 4A0X1, 68X.

For a complete list please visit http://www.uthealth-veterans.jobs/.

Residency Requirement

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.