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Lifepoint Health
Vancouver, Washington

Behavioral Health Technician (BHT) PRN

Behavioral Health TechPer Diem

Listed compensation

$20.56-$27.75/hr

The week · per this posting

Schedule not stated in this posting — no days, weekends, call or nights given.

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 6mo ago

Job Description

  • Behavioral Health Tech - Inpatient Unit
  • Job Type: PRN
  • Wage scale: 20.56-27.75

Your Experience Matters

At Rainier Springs, we are driven by a profound commitment to prioritize your well-being so you can provide exceptional care to others. Here, you’re not just valued as an employee, but as a person. As a Behavioral Health Technician joining our team, you’re embracing a vital mission dedicated to making communities healthier. Join us on this meaningful journey where your skills, compassion, and dedication will make a remarkable difference in the lives of those we serve.

More About Our Team

Our Behavioral Health team provides compassionate, specialized care to adults ages 18 and older across three diverse inpatient units.

Each locked, non‑security unit offers a unique clinical focus such as: severe psychosis, hallucinations, depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and suicidal ideation.

Our staff collaborates closely within a strong multidisciplinary framework that includes Registered Nurses, Behavioral Health Technicians, Social Workers, and Recreational Therapists.

Together, we deliver comprehensive emergency mental health, inpatient, and outpatient services for conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and suicidal ideation.

Floating across units offers our team exposure to diverse patient populations and supports a collaborative, learning‑focused environment.

How You'll Contribute

A Behavioral Health Tech (BHT) who excels in this role:

  • Observe and maintain a safe environment through regular patient checks, safety monitoring, contraband searches, and one‑on‑one supervision as needed.
  • Provides support to the therapeutic milieu under the direction of the registered nurse by ensuring scheduled programs are delivered, supervising patients, maintaining safety, and treating patients and guests with dignity.
  • Perform delegated tasks such as taking vital signs, collecting specimens, documenting care, assisting with group education, and monitoring patients.
  • Promote a positive therapeutic milieu and accompany patients to meals, breaks, off‑unit visits, and appointments.
  • Report all medical or psychiatric changes to the RN and assist with admissions, including belongings inventory and vital signs.
  • Document patient property at admission and discharge and conduct unit safety checks each shift to ensure a clean, therapeutic environment.
  • Encourage or assist patients with activities of daily living and facilitate or co‑facilitate psychoeducational and therapeutic groups using established guidelines.
  • Apply crisis intervention and de‑escalation techniques as needed and maintain knowledge of program protocols.
  • Orient new staff members to the unit, document in the medical record according to policy, provide feedback to the interdisciplinary team, comply with OSHA and CDC specimen guidelines, and perform other duties as assigned.

What We Are Looking For

  • Education: High School Diploma or GED preferred.
  • Experience: Minimum of one year of experience in a psychiatric health‑care facility working with chemical dependency, dual diagnosis, psychiatric, or geriatric patients preferred.
  • Certifications: CPR and de‑escalation certification required within 30 days of hire.

Schedule: PRN shifts

Why Join Us

We believe that investing in our employees is the first step to providing excellent patient care. In addition to your base compensation, this position

also offers:

  • Professional Development: Ongoing learning and career advancement opportunities.

About Our Health System

Rainier Springs is a 72-bed facility located in Vancouver, WA, and is part of Lifepoint Health, a diversified healthcare delivery network committed to making communities healthier® with acute care, rehabilitation, and behavioral health facilities from coast to coast. From your first day to your next career milestone—your experience matters.

EEOC Statement

"Rainier Springs is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Rainier Springs is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity for all applicants and employees and complies with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment in employment."

Lifepoint Health is a leader in community-based care and driven by a mission of Making Communities Healthier.

Our diversified healthcare delivery network spans 29 states and includes 63 community hospital campuses, 32 rehabilitation and behavioral health hospitals, and more than 170 additional sites of care across the healthcare continuum, such as acute rehabilitation units, outpatient centers and post-acute care facilities.

We believe that success is achieved through talented people. We want to create places where employees want to work, with opportunities to pursue meaningful and satisfying careers that truly make a difference in communities across the country.

We employ and provide care to people from all walks of life. We are committed to promoting healing, providing hope, preserving dignity and producing value with an inclusive workforce in which diversity is leveraged, respected, and reflective of the patients, family members, customers and team members we serve.

Key Responsibilities

The Behavioral Health Technician observes patients, maintains a safe environment through checks and monitoring, and supports the therapeutic milieu by delivering scheduled programs under the direction of a Registered Nurse. Responsibilities also include performing delegated tasks like taking vital signs, assisting with groups, and reporting any medical or psychiatric changes to the RN.

Requirements

A High School Diploma or GED is preferred for this role, and a minimum of one year of experience in a psychiatric health-care facility working with relevant patient populations is preferred. CPR and de-escalation certification are required within 30 days of hire.

Qualifications

Education
Professional certificate or licensure

Key Skills

Specimen CollectionDocumentationAdmissions AssistancePsychoeducational Groups

Psychiatry Career Context

The cost-of-living index for Washington is 107.0 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)). 59.8% of Washington clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Of the 40 active Psychiatry listings this role was benchmarked against, 70% have no call, 33% require no weekends.

Location & Logistics

Washington has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states.

Top contract/1099 Behavioral Health Tech Jobs

36 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution22 jobs · 21 employers

5
<$40k
6
$40k-45k
8
$45k-50k
1
$52k
2
$59k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks25 jobs · 21 employers

401k / retirement match
96%
CME allowance
36%
Sign-on bonus
4%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

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BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TECHNICIAN

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$25-$30/hr
#2

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Salary Range: $26.00/…
#3

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#4

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+ 34 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 5.1this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Psychiatry (Behavioral Health Tech) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 158 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Vancouver

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$476k
Typical market rent
$1,828/mo
Residents’ average commute
23 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
105.4
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Lifepoint Health logo

About Lifepoint Health

Hospitals and Health Care
Gallatin, Tennessee
201-500 employees

Benefits & Perks

Professional development opportunities