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Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Support

Psychiatric Aides

Assist mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients, working under direction of nursing and medical staff. May assist with daily living activities, lead patients in educational and recreational activities, or accompany patients to and from examinations and treatments. May restrain violent patients. Includes psychiatric orderlies.

Also called: Developmental Aide, Mental Health Aide (MHA), Mental Health Worker (MHW), Psychiatric Aide, Psychiatric Assistant, Psychiatric Nursing Aide

Compare with my current job (Social and Human Service Assistants)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$48,100
$23.13/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
570
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+4.1%
110 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Short-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$37,030$39,400$48,100$80,120$80,130

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
  • Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
  • Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
  • Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
  • Work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
  • Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure33 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 34
  • Language-model AIOE 39
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 27

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. Tools may help a bit with documenting patient observations. Listening, emotional support, noticing unusual behavior, keeping patients safe, and working with a care team all rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Writing up patient observations
  • Reporting checks to professional staff

Still relies on people

  • Listening and giving emotional support
  • Keeping patients safe during hard moments

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

6 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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