
Behavioral Health Technician
Smithfield, NCFull-time$19.12–27.17/hrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
Most applications go out cold — see where you stand first. No sign-up to start.
You apply on the employer's site, with no Olive account needed.
Watch jobs like this. New roles like this one near Smithfield, NC, by email.
Don't just apply. Show up ready.
Olive works from this exact posting.
At a glance
Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.
Requirements
Credentials this posting asks for.
Job overview
The Behavioral Health Technician provides direct care to psychiatric patients in a safe, supportive therapeutic environment under close supervision. The role supports care planning, admissions, patient and family orientation, therapeutic groups, daily living activities, and patient safety. The position is onsite at UNC Health Johnston and requires one year of behavioral health experience, a North Carolina Nursing Assistant I listing, BLS certification, and CPI certification within 60 days of hire.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Description
*This Full-Time position may qualify for $5,000.00 Commitment Incentive paid over three (3) years. Learn more about our UNC Health Johnston Incentive Program. Ask your Recruiter about details.
Your passion belongs at UNC Health. Join more than 56,000 teammates working together to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve across North Carolina.
Summary:
Under close supervision, responsible for providing a safe, supportive and therapeutic environment for psychiatric patients. Provides direct patient care and may conduct therapeutic group sessions under the direction and supervision of the RN. Provides input to the RN to help develop the plan of care and assists in carrying out the plan of care for assigned patients. Assists with the admission of new patients and orients new patients and families to the unit.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT
UNC Health Johnston offers a continuum of behavioral health services to support individuals in crisis. The Behavioral Health Holding area in the Emergency Department provides a safe space for immediate psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and stabilization. The Behavioral Health Triage process ensures patients receive immediate care through timely assessments, medical clearance, and coordination with inpatient psychiatric services. The Behavioral Health Inpatient Unit delivers comprehensive treatment through therapy, education, and personalized care planning, helping patients stabilize, build coping skills, and prepare for safe discharge with ongoing support.
Responsibilities:
-
Aids patients in reality orientation, participates in behavior modification plans/therapy, provides informal support therapy to patients/families, provides verbal de-escalation of potentially aggressive patients, aids in the physical management of aggressive/out-of-control patients, facilitates age appropriate play for children, and monitors the therapeutic milieu activities on assigned unit to ensure that emotional and safety needs of patients are met.
-
Assists in interviewing patients and their families for routine admission data. Orients patients and families to the facility. Provides data input during team discussions and meetings to assist in developing therapeutic plans and objectives.
-
Interacts with patients on a one to one as well as small group basis. Facilitates assigned groups in ways which encourage and require maximum patient participation and interaction, appropriate to functional level of group members.
-
Observes, collects, and documents patient information obtained while providing care and promptly report significant changes in the patient's condition to a registered nurse or physician.
-
Provides direct personal care to patients as outlined in plan of care for routine activities of daily living including bathing, personal hygiene, feeding and dressing. Assists patients with position changes, range of motion exercises, transfers and walking. Obtains and records vital signs, intake and output amounts or other measures as delegated. Observes patients and assesses progress on daily basis and reports significant changes in patients' condition and/or behavior to supervising RN.
-
Provides protection and control for patients as required to ensure patient safety in the facility. Participates in restraining combative patients as necessary. Provides care and monitoring of patients in seclusion and/or restraint.
-
Reinforce routine teaching given to patients by the registered nurse or physician and document patient understanding of instructions. Distributes patient education materials at the request of patients and/or health care providers
Other Information
Other information:
Education Requirements:
- High school diploma or GED required; higher-level degree may satisfy this requirement.
Licensure/Certification Requirements:
-
Listed as a Nursing Assistant I by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
-
Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) certification within 60 days from date of hire
-
Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
Professional Experience Requirements:
- Requires one (1) year of relavent experience in a behavioral health environment.
Knowledge/Skills/and Abilities Requirements:
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with patients and hospital staff. Ability to work with, express sensitivity and understanding, and secure the cooperation of patients, including maintaining empathetic attitude towards patients. Ability to work with groups of patients or individuals in didactic or recreational groups. Ability to keep calm in stressful situations. Must be fluent in verbal and written English language. Capability to develop computer skills if not competent.
Job Details
Legal Employer: NCHEALTH
Entity: Johnston Health
Organization Unit: Behavioral Health IP
Work Type: Full Time
Standard Hours Per Week: 36.00
Salary Range: $19.12 - $27.17 per hour (Hiring Range)
Pay offers are determined by experience and internal equity
Work Assignment Type: Onsite
Work Schedule: Day Job
Location of Job: US:NC:Smithfield
Exempt From Overtime: Exempt: No
This position is employed by NC Health (Rex Healthcare, Inc., d/b/a NC Health), a private, fully-owned subsidiary of UNC Heath Care System. This is not a State employed position.
Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran or political affiliation.
UNC Health makes reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as applicants and employees with disabilities. All interested applicants are invited to apply for career opportunities. Please email [email protected] if you need a reasonable accommodation to search and/or to apply for a career opportunity.
Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.
How this job compares
Set against the 382 open Behavioral Health Technician jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$19.12–27.17/hr
- US median$19–24/hr155 hourly ranges
This range's midpoint, $23.15/hr, is 6% above the US median midpoint ($22/hr) — in the middle half of Behavioral Health Technician hourly ranges across the US.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 382 open Behavioral Health Technician jobs across the US. None of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most across the US
- Sevita20 open
- Amergis16 open
- WestCare Foundation16 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience; Behavioral Health Technician postings that state a minimum ask for 1 year at the median (128 postings).
- Education
- This posting asks for a high school diploma; 223 of the 382 open Behavioral Health Technician jobs (58%) ask for a high school diploma or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
Prepare for this role
You've read the whole posting — now see how you match it.

