Psychiatric Technician - IPU

Description

Are you a licensed Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse in California looking to make a real difference in the lives of others? Join the dedicated team at Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC), where you'll provide compassionate, hands-on care to psychiatric patients in our Inpatient Psychiatric Unit under the direction of physicians and registered nurses.

This is more than just a job, it’s a unique opportunity to combine psychiatric and medical nursing skills in a dynamic, team-based environment. Unlike the Hospital Technician I and the Health Technician series roles, this position allows you to provide comprehensive care within your full scope of licensure, helping individuals on their journey toward stability and wellness.

At VCMC, we are proud to be a fully integrated public healthcare system committed to serving the whole community-especially the underserved and those who face barriers to care. More than 75% of our patients come from this “safety net” population, and we need compassionate professionals like you to help fulfill our mission of equitable, high-quality healthcare for all.

Be part of a team that’s changing lives every day. Make a meaningful impact in psychiatric care.

WHAT WE OFFER:
The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements, that includes:

• Educational Incentive: An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, or 5% for completion of a graduate's degree.
• Bilingual Incentive: Incumbents may be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification of skill. Proficiency levels by exam are $0.69/hour (Level I), $1.00/hour (Level II), or $1.32/hour (Level III).
• Certification Pay: $0.813 per hour based on scheduled work week hours for each qualified certification up to a maximum of five (5) certifications. One of the five certifications may be paid at $2.00 per hour for a National Certification. List provided in the MOA, Exhibit 9.
• Evening Shift Differential: 7.5%
• Night Shift Differential: 15%
• Weekend Shift Differential: $2.00 per hour
• Standby Premium Pay: ¼ of regular hourly wage or Federal minimum wage (whichever is greater)
• Holidays: 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.
• Health Benefits: You are afforded a flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision care expenses from authorized plans.
• Deferred Compensation: Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. If you participate in the County sponsored 401(K) plan, the County will match a part of your contribution up to 2% of your salary, on a per pay period basis.
• Pension Plan: Participation in the County's defined benefit pension plan that provides lifetime payments to retirees. Members are "vested" after attaining five years of retirement service credit. If eligible, you may establish reciprocity with other public retirement systems such as CalPERS.
• Additional Benefits: Tuition Reimbursement, Disability Plans, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Wellness Program.
• To learn more about the benefits, please follow the link below: (Download PDF reader) https://vcportal.ventura.org/CEO/HR/MOA/docs/CNA_MOA_2023-2028.pdf (Download PDF reader)

PAYROLL TITLES & SALARIES:

Psychiatric Technician - IPU (Entry Level): $35.85
Psychiatric Technician - IPU: $35.85 - $38.59

Per Diem Psychiatric Technician: $21.95 - $25.32
Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technician: $25.32 - $32.76

AGENCY/DEPARTMENT: Health Care Agency - Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (IPU)

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.

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 (1) Temporary vacancy within Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (IPU) at Ventura County Medical Center.

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: August 8, 2025
CLOSING DATE: August 22, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.

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 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.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Professional Support Services

• Case finding, assessment, planning, and coordination activities:
  • Uses professional skills to identify at-risk, mentally ill persons who may benefit from program participation; and
  • 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; and
  • Conducts or participates in health-related training.
• Provider relations and resources 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.
• Performs other duties as required

Administrative Support Services

• 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; and
  • 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; and
  • 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.; and
• Performs other duties as required.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and ensure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE:

Psychiatric Technician-IPU (Entry-Level) & Per Diem Psychiatric Technician
No experience required.

Psychiatric Technician-IPU & Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Techn icia n
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.
  

Education/Experience Substitution (Per Diem Senior Psychiatric Technician only): Completion of course work at an accredited college or university in the behavioral sciences and/or arts may be substituted for the non-community mental health experience as a psychiatric technician.

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 within three days of job posting closing.
• 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:

• Possession of a current valid California license as a Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse.
• Must have and maintain a current valid Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR) certification issued by American Heart Association or American Red Cross by the first date of employment

DESIRED:

• Crisis Prevention & Intervention (CPI) certified.
• AVADE Workplace Violence Prevention Training
• Experience using Electronic Health Record (EHR) software

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ABILITIES:

Thorough knowledge of:

• normal human growth and development;
• therapeutic group functioning;
• effective team functioning;
• charting, administration of medications;
• community resource agencies;
• and basic knowledge of crisis intervention.

Working ability to:

• 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: Applications must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 22, 2025.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at https://hr.ventura.org . If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call ( 805) 677-5184 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources - Health Care Agency, 646 County Square, Ventura, CA 93003.

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. A score will be assigned to each application based on established criteria. 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 Vivian Merida at Vivian.Merida@venturacounty.gov or by telephone at (805) 677-5231.

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

Union Code: NCN

Closing Date/Time: 8/22/2025 5:00 PM Pacific

• 

• County of Ventura

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