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Avera Health
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Behavioral Health Technician | Senior Unit

Behavioral Health TechIncludes weekendsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$19.75-$30/hr

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 1mo ago

Job Description

Location: Avera Behavioral Health Center-Sioux Falls

Worker Type

Regular

Work Shift

Primarily days with rotating weekends and holidays (United States of America)

Pay Range

The pay range for this position is listed below. Actual pay rate dependent upon experience.

$19.75 - $30.00

Position Highlights

This position may be eligible for a $3,000 Sign on Bonus

Why Is Behavioral Health Important?

The Avera Behavioral Health Senior Unit is a 20 bed unit that provides a welcoming, calming and healing environment to our patients as well as their families. The Senior unit’s environment is an active and challenging care environment that requires critical thinking and at the same time values autonomous professional nursing practice.

  • You will enjoy this Behavioral Health setting if you are someone that:
  • This BHT position is a unique opportunity to get both medical and mental health experience as many of the patients have medical comorbidities requiring medical nursing care as well.
  • Enjoys working with older adults with all different levels of functioning as well as their families.
  • Has a passion helping patients with conditions such as Dementia, Depression, Catatonia, Anxiety Disorders, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.
  • Possesses motivation to help create and deliver high-quality patient care in an energizing team environment.

Work with a dynamic and comprehensive team that includes: Physicians, Social Workers, Case Management, Patient Care Techs, expressive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, physical, occupation and speech therapy.

You Belong at Avera

Be part of a multidisciplinary team built with compassion and the goal of Moving Health Forward for you and our patients. Work where you matter.

A Brief Overview

Serves as a liaison for nurses, counselors, and patients in interdepartmental communications. Assists with the physical and psychological care of patients under the direct supervision of a Registered Nurse. Assumes responsibility and accountability for individual actions and outcomes of patient care delivered.

What You Will Do

  • Demonstrates effective communication skills to create a positive work environment.
  • Participates in the daily inter-disciplinary treatment team meeting as needed, providing input in terms of patient behaviors and interactions with others.
  • Implements suicide precautions as needed.
  • Assesses changes in patient’s condition/behavior and notifies RN and/or Counselor.
  • Assists with the activities of daily living care of the patients to include, but not limited tovital signs, collection of specimens, and other general nursing care procedures.
  • Maintains accurate and concise records, documenting promptly all pertinent information in the patient’s EMR.
  • Assesses impending agitation and escalation of behavioral changes and participates in the behavioral management of these patients.
  • Assists with admissions, transfers, and discharging of patients.
  • Assists with medication monitoring and education at facility.
  • Ensures that patient’s valuables and personal items are properly handled.

Essential Qualifications

The individual must be able to work the hours specified.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function satisfactorily including having visual acuity adequate to perform position duties and the ability to communicate effectively with others, hear, understand and distinguish speech and other sounds.

These requirements and those listed above are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the essential job functions.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions, as long as the accommodations do not cause undue hardship to the employer.

Required Education, License/Certification, or Work Experience:

1-3 years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience

Preferred Education, License/Certification, or Work Experience:

Bachelor's

Expectations and Standards

Commitment to the daily application of Avera’s mission, vision, core values, and social principles to serve patients, their families, and our community.

  • Promote Avera’s values of compassion, hospitality, and stewardship.
  • Uphold Avera’s standards of Communication, Attitude, Responsiveness, and Engagement (CARE) with enthusiasm and sincerity.
  • Maintain confidentiality.

Work effectively in a team environment, coordinating work flow with other team members and ensuring a productive and efficient environment.

Comply with safety principles, laws, regulations, and standards associated with, but not limited to, CMS, The Joint Commission, DHHS, and OSHA if applicable.

Benefits You Need & Then Some

Avera is proud to offer a wide range of benefits to qualifying part-time and full-time employees. We support you with opportunities to help live balanced, healthy lives. Benefits are designed to meet needs of today and into the future.

  • PTO available day 1 for eligible hires.
  • Up to 5% employer matching contribution for retirement
  • Career development guided by hands-on training and mentorship

Avera is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, Veteran Status, or other categories protected by law. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation for help with your online application, please call 1-605-504-4444 or send an email to talent@avera.org.

Key Responsibilities

The Behavioral Health Technician assists with the physical and psychological care of patients under the supervision of a Registered Nurse. They serve as a liaison for the treatment team and document patient behaviors and interactions in the electronic medical record.

Requirements

Candidates must have 1-3 years of related experience or training. The role requires the ability to perform essential job functions including effective communication and physical interaction with patients.

Key Skills

Vital signs monitoringElectronic medical recordsPatient admissionInterdisciplinary collaborationDementia careCrisis intervention

Behavioral Health Career Context

Of the 40 active Behavioral Health listings this role was benchmarked against, 70% have no call, 63% require no weekends.

Behavioral Health pay on WeekdayDoc is up 13.2% vs. the prior quarter (through Oct 2026).

Behavioral Health by the numbers
MeasureThis jobMarket
Listed pay$41k–$62kBehavioral Health median $42k (middle half $37k–$46k)672 comparable listings, Nov 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$58k in purchasing powerSouth Dakota index 88.6 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Behavioral Health listings in South Dakota5 active1,228 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 70% no call · 63% no weekends40 benchmarked listings
Sign-on & loan repaymentnot statedUS healthcare professional listings (all specialties): 4% state a sign-on bonus (median $3k) · 12% offer loan repayment1,000 active listings, Nov 2026
New Behavioral Health listings861 in the last 30 days503 the 30 days before (+71%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Behavioral Health pay trend+13.2% vs prior quarter—through Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index, BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Location & Logistics

South Dakota has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states. At the posted ~$52k midpoint, that is roughly $2k–$4k a year versus a typical 4–7% state rate.

Top Behavioral Health Tech Jobs

24 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution

24 jobs · 21 employers
11
<$45k
10
$45k-55k
2
$55k-65k
1
$72k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks

15 jobs
401k / retirement match
100% this job
CME allowance
33%
Sign-on bonus
13% this job
PSLF eligible
13%
Loan repayment
7%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Behavioral Health Technician - Float Pool

Essentia Health · Duluth, Minnesota

$23.28-$34.63/hr
#2

Behavioral Health Technician

Centurion Health · Taylorville, Illinois

$26.91-$28.58/hr
#3

Therapeutic Recreation Behavioral Health Technician (BHT)

$23-$27/hr
#4

Behavioral Health Technician

$16-$25/hr
+ 22 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 1.5this job 1.5
Below most Behavioral Health listings for work-life

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,195 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • Includes weekends

Living in Sioux Falls

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$302k
Typical market rent
$1,279/mo
Residents’ average commute
17 min
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

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

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