Mental Health Technician 2 Acute Psychiatry
Listed compensation
$20.3-$33.09/hr
The week · per this posting3-day week · 3×12s
Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.
Job Description
Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is looking for a dedicated Mental Health Technician 2 to join the Psychiatry Acute Care team. This role will be full-time working day shift: 3 x 12-hour shifts, 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Inova is consistently ranked a national healthcare leader in safety, quality and patient experience. We are also proud to be consistently recognized as a top employer in both the D.C. metro area and the nation.
Featured Benefits
- Committed to Team Member Health: offering medical, dental and vision coverage, and a robust team member wellness program.
- Retirement: Inova matches the first 5% of eligible contributions – starting on your first day.
- Tuition and Student Loan Assistance: offering up to $5,250 per year in education assistance and up to $10,000 for student loans.
- Mental Health Support: offering all Inova team members, their spouses/partners, and their children 25 mental health coaching or therapy sessions, per person, per year, at no cost.
- Work/Life Balance: offering paid time off, paid parental leave, flexible work schedules.
Mental Health Technician 2 Job Responsibilities
- Assists unit leadership with oversight of the unit's Mental Health Technician
Education
- needs/compliance.
- Collaborates with the Registered Nurse and healthcare team to advocate for patients' clinical, emotional, ethical, spiritual and cultural needs.
- Provides individualized patient support for activities of daily living including bathing, feeding, bed making and measurement of vital signs and intake/output.
- Provides information to patients, families and visitors which may include orients patients to the
- unit/program, explains rationale for rules or restrictions and provides printed information.
- Serves as a resource and unit preceptor for all new Mental Health Technicians. Works with the unit leadership to ensure Mental Health Technicians have current competencies and skills to perform their work.
Minimum Qualifications
- Certification - Basic Life Support (BLS) Upon Start Licensure - None required
- Experience - Two years of experience as a Mental Health Technician 1 or Clinical Technician 1 at Inova Health System and/or two years as psychiatric technician at another facility.
- Education - High School or GED
Preferred Qualifications
- Previous experience with patients diagnosed with severe mental illness
We are Inova, Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider. Every day, our 26,000+ team members provide world-class healthcare to the communities we serve. Our people are the reason we're a national leader in healthcare safety, quality and patient experience.
And from best-in-class facilities to professional development opportunities, we support them at every step. At Inova, we're constantly striving to be ever better — to shape a more compassionate future for healthcare.
Inova Health is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, pregnancy (including childbirth, pregnancy-related conditions and lactation), race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristics protected by law.
Key Responsibilities
The Mental Health Technician 2 provides direct patient support for activities of daily living and collaborates with the healthcare team to advocate for patient needs. They also assist unit leadership with staff education, compliance, and serve as a preceptor for new technicians.
Requirements
Candidates must have a high school diploma or GED and two years of experience as a mental health or clinical technician. A Basic Life Support (BLS) certification is required upon starting the role.
Qualifications
- Education
- Professional certificate or licensure
- Experience
- 2+ years of experience
Key Skills
Healthcare Professional Career Context
The cost-of-living index for Virginia is 101.1 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$56k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $55k in an average-cost state. 61.1% of Virginia clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
Of the 40 active healthcare listings this role was benchmarked against, 73% have no call, 63% require no weekends.
| Measure | This job | Market |
|---|---|---|
| Listed pay | $42k–$69k | healthcare median $43k (middle half $33k–$47k)41 comparable listings, Nov 2026 |
| Cost-of-living adjusted pay | ~$55k in purchasing power | Virginia index 101.1 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024) |
| healthcare listings in Virginia | 40 active | 1,600 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026 |
| Work setting | on-site | peers: 73% no call · 63% no weekends40 benchmarked listings |
| Sign-on & loan repayment | $10k loan repayment | US healthcare professional listings: 4% state a sign-on bonus (median $3k) · 14% offer loan repayment1,000 active listings, Nov 2026 |
| healthcare pay trend | −2.2% vs prior quarter | —through Oct 2026 |
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