Psychiatric Technician - IPU (Regular, Per Diem, Sr. Per Diem) - Behavioral Health
County of Ventura Ventura, California, United States
- Location: Ventura, California, United States
- Categories: Public Health
- Job Type: Variable Shift
- Posted: Feb 25, 2025
Job Description:
Psychiatric Technician - IPU (Regular, Per Diem, Sr. Per Diem) - Behavioral Health
Description
DescriptionUnder direction of a physician or registered nurse, performs a variety of paraprofessional nursing duties in providing care to psychiatric patients, including providing both psychiatric and medical nursing care to patients within the scope of licensure as a Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse in the state of California.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
The Per Diem Psychiatric Technician and Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technicians are distinguished from the regular classifications in that Per Diem are scheduled to work "as needed" to supplement staffing needs.
Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technician differs from Psychiatric Technician in that the class requires more independent action in the promotion and utilization of effective mental health techniques.
APPROXIMATE SALARIES:
Per Diem Psychiatric Technician: $18.81 - $22.85 Hourly
Senior Per Diem Psychiatric Technician: $22.85 - $29.56 Hourly
Psychiatric Technician - IPU: $32.98 - $35.50 Hourly
WHAT WE OFFER:
The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements, that includes:
- Educational/Bilingual Incentive: Incumbents may be eligible for an educational incentive based on completion of a degree. Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification of skill.
- 2.5% Associate's , 3.5%, Bachelor's, or 5% Master's (Psychiatric Technician - IPU only)
- $1.25/hr Bachelor's or $1.75/hr Master's (PD Psychiatric Technician & PD Sr. Psychiatric Technician)
- 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday (Psychiatric Technician - IPU only)
- 11 eligible days for 1.5 of regular hourly wage for all hours worked on the holidays
- Biweekly County contribution towards medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from authorized plans. (Psychiatric Technician - IPU only)
- Per Diem employees may purchase the Ventura County Health Care Plan (VCHCP) at their own expense.
- Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 2% match on your 401(k) contributions. (Psychiatric Technician - IPU only)
- Per Diem Employees may participate in the 457 plan with no County contribution
Psychiatric Technician - IPU, Per Diem Psychiatric Technician, and Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technician are represented by the California Nurse's Association (CNA) and are eligible for overtime compensation.
NOTE: Salary placement will be determined according to the current CNA memorandum of agreement. (Psychiatric Technician - IPU only)
The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary, Fixed-Term), and Intermittent vacancies. There is currently one regular full-time vacancy within Behavioral Health.
NOTE: If appointed as a Per Diem Psych Tech, incumbent may be promoted to Per Diem Sr Psych Tech without further examination upon meeting the minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and in accordance with the business needs of the department.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OPENING DATE: April 8, 2023
CLOSING DATE: Continuous and may close at any time; therefore, the schedule for the remainder of the process will depend upon when we receive a sufficient number of qualified applications to meet business needs. It is to your advantage to apply as soon as possible.
Examples Of Duties
Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:
Direct Services
- Mental Health Services: works as a member of a team to provide psychiatric and medical nursing care to patients in mental health inpatient and outpatient, field based and crisis services/programs; prepares and administers medications; observes patients and identifies individual personal needs; observes patients for medical problems and refers them to appropriate medical facilities; provides evaluation, rehabilitation, collateral, crisis intervention; performs clinical charting for clients and their families in collaboration with other members of the mental health team.
- Case Management: provides case management/brokerage including linkage and consultation, placement and plan development services for clients and their families in collaboration with other members of the mental health and discharge planning teams.
- Case finding, assessment, planning, and coordination activities: uses professional skills to identify at-risk, mentally ill persons who may benefit from program participation; plans and coordinates activities that result in a plan of care.
- Early intervention and prevention: uses professional skills to prepare persons for, coordinate with other care givers, or disseminate information about growth and development and early intervention/prevention of mental disability.
- Consultation and training: uses professional skills to provide mental health consultation to persons, providers, staff of other agencies, and the community; conducts or participates in health-related training.
- Provider relations and resource development: uses professional skills in performing activities that establish, expand, and maintain the pool of eligible service providers.
- Utilization review: uses professional skills in quality management activities such as utilization review, monitoring and evaluation procedures, and the development of standards and protocols.
- Outreach, informing, prescreening, and enrollment: provides outreach and intensive communication to persons about Medi-Cal and other state and federal programs and their benefits, and how to access and apply for these programs/benefits; performs prescreening and completion of paperwork to determining eligibility; assists persons in obtaining needed services.
- Interagency coordination: collaborates with other agencies to define program scope, improve the cost effectiveness and availability of service delivery systems, and/or focus services on specific population groups or geographic areas.
- Training activities: participates in training on patient advocacy programs for persons at risk, service delivery skills, or cultural competence.
- Program planning, development and monitoring: assists in developing goals and objectives, policies and procedures, forms, and management information systems; monitors and audits for proper and efficient County, state, and federal program administration.
- General Administration: performs general administration duties and tasks necessary for the daily operation of the program, including staff meetings, health promotion, training, budgets, etc.
- Performs other related duties as required.
Typical Qualifications
These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.
EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE:
EDUCATION/TRAINING: Possession of a current valid California license as a Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse.
EXPERIENCE:
Per Diem Psychiatric Technician
Requires no experience.
Psychiatric Technician - IPU & Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technician
Requires two (2) years of full-time experience as a psychiatric technician, mental health technician, or nurse in a mental health/psychiatric setting.
- One (1) year of the required full-time experience must have been in a community mental health program.
NOTE: If you are substituting education for experience, verification of the college-level coursework is required.
- Submit your transcripts or grade reports from an accredited college or university which shows your name and reflect passing grades in the required subject; attach education verification documents to your online application or submit to Vivian.Merida@ventura.org
- If you need additional time to submit transcripts, contact the analyst conducting the recruitment for an extension at Vivian.Merida@ventura.org
- Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.
- Degree(s) from a foreign institution require an academic credential evaluation to determine the U.S. equivalency.
- If the name is different on the transcripts from your application, documentation needs to be submitted showing the name change.
NOTE: Accredited institutions are those listed through the U.S. Department of Education--Office of Postsecondary Education. Also acceptable, if appropriate, are degrees that have been evaluated and deemed to be equivalent to degrees from United States accredited institutions by an academic credential evaluation agency recognized by The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services and Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc.
NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Per Diem positions, must be willing to work when called upon.
- Must possess a current, valid Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR) certification issued by the American Heart Association by the first day of employment.
DESIRED:
- Crisis Prevention & Intervention (CPI) certified.
- AVADE Workplace Violence Prevention Training
- Experience using Cerner.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:
Working to thorough knowledge of (depending on level):
- normal human growth and development;
- therapeutic group functioning;
- effective team functioning;
- charting, administration of medications;
- community resource agencies;
- and basic knowledge of crisis intervention.
- identify individual personal needs and to plan and implement nursing care for individual patients;
- establish and maintain the confidence of patients and professional staff;
- maintain confidentiality of patient/client information;
- establish and maintain effective interpersonal relations with other staff members, patients, and their families;
- communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
Recruitment Process
FINAL FILING DATE: This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.
To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/hr. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.
Note to Applicants: It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, it/they may not be submitted in lieu of the application.
LATERAL TRANSFER: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here for additional information.
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire will result in the application being removed from consideration.
APPLICATION EVALUATION - 100% : An application evaluation will be conducted to determine whether each applicant possesses the required licensure and experience for this recruitment. A score of 70 will be assigned to each applicant meeting the stated requirements. Such score will be considered as the final score for placement on the eligible list.
Applicants successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.
For further information about this recruitment, please contact Erin Niemi at erin.niemi@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 654-2568.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.
YOUR BENEFITS AS A COUNTY OF VENTURA EMPLOYEE
California Nurses Association
(CNA)
To learn more about Benefits, Retirement, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), see links below.
- Benefits website or you may call (805) 654-2570.
- Retirement FAQ's
- Memorandum of Agreement
Closing Date/Time: Continuous