How to Become a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant

Working as a psychiatric nursing assistant can be an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding career with a variety of possible career paths, but it can be hard to get started in the field. If you’re an aspiring mental health aide who’s wondering how to become a psychiatric nursing assistant, this article will explore how to get onto the first rung of the career ladder.

What Training Is Needed To Become A Psychiatric Nursing Assistant?

In order to become a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant, you must first become a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), also known as a Nurse Aide. Each state has its own requirements for eligibility, but typically you need a high school diploma, need to be at least 18 years old, graduate from a Nursing Aide school, and pass the state-administered test. Visit our Search by State page to see your state’s requirements. You can also find a CNA school near you, just enter your zip code in our CNA school finder. Some CNA schools can be a few months long but there are also accelerated programs that you can graduate from in just 4 weeks.

There are are no additional certifications required nationwide to transition from a Certified Nursing Assistant to a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant. A Psychiatric Nursing Assistant is simply a specialization for CNAs, such as a Geriatric Nursing Assistant or Pediatric Nurse Assistant.

There are, however, many ways you can navigate your CNA career into a psychiatric specialization. You can obtain a post-secondary certificate or Associate’s Degree in a related area, such as psychology or mental health technology. Aside from education, experience in a related field, either in a paid or voluntary capacity, can also make your application stand out.

The training required to succeed in this role is usually provided on the job, though the specifics of this can vary depending on your employer and the location of your job. Training can last from days to months, and it could involve a variety of learning methods such as shadowing those already in the role, attending seminars or workshops, and taking online courses.

While some of the duties you’ll be expected to perform as a psychiatric nursing assistant may seem daunting at first, try not to worry; while you are in training, you should be closely supervised by those with experience in the role, giving you the chance to gain confidence and hone your skills safe in the knowledge that there’s someone close at hand to help out if you make a mistake.

Do You Need Any Licenses To Work As A Psychiatric Nursing Assistant?

There is no nationwide license requirement to work as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant across the United States, though 4 states – Arkansas, California, Colorado and Kansas – offer their own licenses if you’d like to practice as a Psychiatric Technician.

Outside of these states, you can be awarded a license by the American Association of Psychiatric Technicians. If you want to obtain a license awarded by the AAPT, there are four levels of certification that you can achieve:

· Level 1 – requires only a high school diploma or equivalent

· Level 2 – requires a year of experience, plus the completion of at least 30 credits of college-level work

· Level 3 – requires two years of experience, plus the completion of 60 credits of college-level work

· Level 4 – requires three years of experience, plus a bachelor’s degree in psychology or a similar field

Responsibilities of a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant

Your day-to-day responsibilities as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant will vary based on your facility and needs of the patients. But here are examples of some typical tasks:

Process patients for admission by obtaining inpatient/outpatient records
Observe patient treatment and record session notes
Monitor vital signs and administer psychiatric rating scales
Adhere to HIPAA guidelines and use good judgment regarding patient confidentiality
Communicate clearly with supervisory nurses and doctors who oversee patient treatment, especially any changes in patient condition
Safely transport and care for the daily needs of patients with compassion and dignity
Identifies potential crisis situations and safely intervenes and notifies correct emergency medical staff

What Makes A Good Psychiatric Nursing Assistant?

Aside from formal qualifications or training requirements, there are some innate qualities that any aspiring Psychiatric Nursing Assistant must possess.

The role requires huge amounts of compassion, patience and emotional resilience, as you will often be dealing with patients who are vulnerable, suffering from mental illness, or experiencing acute emotional or psychiatric distress. Being a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant can be difficult and frustrating at times, and you may have to deal with being the subject of verbal or physical abuse whilst on the job. This requires a huge amount of emotional resilience and the ability to understand that the patients are not victimizing you; they are experiencing mental illness and may not fully be in control of their own actions.

Physical fitness is also key to succeeding in the role, as physically-demanding activities such as restraining patients, transferring patients between beds, and spending long shifts on your feet are likely to be part of the job.

Jobs for Psychiatric Nursing Assistants

The good news is, there are many facilities and companies that will hire Psychiatric Nursing Assistants. With nurses being a crucial part of the healthcare industry, there is always a demand.

Such employers include:

Nursing homes

Rehabs for drug and alcohol dependency
Mental health clinics
Eating disorder units
Places where elder care is key
Psychiatric hospitals
Veteran centers
Private at-home care
Hospitals with mental health departments

Career Opportunities For Psychiatric Nursing Assistants

Once you have experience working as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant, there are many routes available to you in terms of career progression. For example, experience in this role could be advantageous when looking to move into social work, psychology, nursing or medicine; however, these careers require their own set of qualifications.

If you enjoy your role as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant and do not want to change profession, but you are keen to further your career, you could consider moving into a supervisory or management role where you can pass your knowledge on to other Psychiatric Nursing Assistants.

Conclusion

The qualifications and experience required to work as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant vary widely between jobs and locations, but there are routes into the role to suit anyone. If you’re interested in pursuing this rewarding career, check out job postings in your area to see what’s needed to get started.

Guest Bio: Madeline Miller writes about nursing careers for State Of Writing and Paper Writing Service.