Table 7b. Number and percent distribution of full-time equivalent staff1 in private psychiatric hospitals, by staff discipline: United States, selected years, 1972–94

Staff discipline 1972 1976 1978 1986 1990 1992 1994
Number of FTE staff
All staff 21,504 27,655 29,972 58,912 75,392 77,251 71,906
Patient care staff 11,329 17,196 18,728 35,480 57,200 56,877 20,388
Professional patient care staff 5,735 9,879 11,419 27,246 45,669 44,206 14,132
Psychiatrists 1,067 1,369 1,285 1,554 1,582 2,081 1,367
Other physicians 101 162 185 141 316 147 160
Psychologists2 305 559 590 1,557 1,977 1,656 708
Social workers 418 784 920 2,893 4,044 4,587 1,963
Registered nurses 2,634 3,395 3,967 10,147 14,819 15,086 5,161
Other mental health professionals 857 2,794 3,644 7,478 17,358 15,303 3,563
Physical health professionals and assistants 353 816 828 3,476 5,573 5,346 1,210
Other mental health workers 5,594 7,317 7,309 8,234 11,531 12,671 6,256
Administrative, clerical, and maintenance staff 10,175 10,459 11,244 23,432 18,192 20,374 51,518
Percent distribution of FTE staff
All staff 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Patient care staff 52.7 62.2 62.5 60.2 75.9 73.6 28.4
Professional patient care staff 26.7 35.7 38.1 46.2 60.6 57.2 19.7
Psychiatrists 5.0 5.0 4.3 2.6 2.1 2.7 1.9
Other physicians 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2
Psychologists2 1.4 2.0 2.0 2.6 2.6 2.1 1.0
Social workers 1.9 2.8 3.1 4.9 5.4 5.9 2.7
Registered nurses 12.2 12.3 13.2 17.2 19.7 19.5 7.2
Other mental health professionals 4.0 10.1 12.2 12.7 23.0 19.8 5.0
Physical health professionals and assistants 1.6 3.0 2.8 5.9 7.4 6.9 1.7
Other mental health workers 26.0 26.5 24.4 14.0 15.3 16.4 8.7
Administrative, clerical, and maintenance staff 47.3 37.8 37.5 39.8 24.1 26.4 71.6

Sources: Published and unpublished inventory data from the Survey and Analysis Branch, Division of State and Community Systems Development, Center for Mental Health Services.
1 The computation of full-time equivalent staff is based on a 40-hour work week.
2 For 1972–78, this category included all psychologists with a B.A. degree and above; for 1986–94, it included only psychologists with an M.A. degree and above.

Back to Mental Health 2000