Roles and Responsibilities:
· Ensures the wellbeing of clients and provides a safe, positive, supportive, and structured environment. Maintains a constant awareness and supervision of clients.
· Conducts safety checks, ensuring that supervision is conducted at intervals in accordance with individualized supervision guidelines.
· Checks clients for contraband and manages the client’s valuables and belongings.
· Interacts routinely with clients, observes behaviors and communicates significant observations to supervisor. Promotes interest in recreational activities.
· Engages with client in activities and interactions designed to encourage achievement of treatment goals.
· Leads or co-leads client educational-rehabilitative groups which cover a variety of topics including social skills, coping skills, anger management and independent living skills.
· May take and record vital signs properly and communicates significant changes in client’s condition to the charge nurse.
· Documents in client records timely, accurately, and appropriately.
· Applies de-escalation techniques to help manage client’s emotions, behavior and participation in treatment.
· Assists with unit cleaning, organization of new admits charts, discharge process, filing, etc. Initiates client/employee incident reports.
· Provides transfer or transportation for client or coordinates transportation with appropriate staff member, as required.
· Provides verbal report/briefing to the oncoming shift.
· Serves as a resource for new clients introducing them to other clients and staff, explaining programs and encouraging participation. Orients clients to the activities program, explaining the benefits of activities.
· Maintains an awareness of client’s needs and individual goals while motivating clients towards activities which are beneficial to them. Observes clients’ interest levels and behaviors.
· Assists with activity planning by offering new activity ideas and diverse therapeutic recreation program.
· Organizes and sets up the equipment that is used in recreational activities. Provides clients with activity resources and supplies, as needed.
· Enforces safety rules to prevent injury and modifies activities to suit the needs of specific groups.
· Helps to develop and maintain departmental resources, sharing the responsibility to monitor equipment and supplies.
· Helps with admissions and discharges if needed.
· Participates in rehabilitation and treatment programs as well as teach strategies to promote client wellness and independence, as needed.
· Ensures that the program schedule is being followed and reports to supervisor variances to program schedule.
· Ensures or assists with assignments for BHAs, group coverage, charting, breaks, environmental and safety rounds and codes.
· Assists in providing guidance and direction to other BHAs, including mentoring of new staff.
· Performs day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining files and processing paperwork.
· Coordinates and leads the work and activities of others, including scheduling programs and activities.
· Maintains inventory of unit supplies.