Career Explorer Healthcare support
Human edge, steady
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.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 86% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.9% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence and ethical judgement.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $44,910
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.9%
- Openings a year
- 4,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 36,900
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Provide support or encouragement to others
- Perform administrative or clerical activities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Maintain health or medical records
- Assist individuals with special needs
- Evaluate patient or client condition or treatment options
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as psychiatric technicians are increasingly utilized, relative to psychiatric aides, to provide day-to-day care to patients.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Home health and personal care aidesHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +18.1%
- Medical assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 89, +12.9%
- Food service managersHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +5.8%
- Nursing assistantsHuman edge, steady, Index 88, +2.6%
Also known as: Mental Health Worker (MHW), Psychiatric Aide, Residential Care Tech (Residential Care Technician), Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW), Developmental Aide, Mental Health Aide (MHA), Psychiatric Assistant, Psychiatric Nursing Aide.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.