Table 7c. Number and percent distribution of full-time equivalent staff1 in the separate psychiatric services of non-Federal general 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 30,982 39,621 40,908 70,187 80,625 81,819 80,532
Patient care staff 25,385 33,969 34,966 61,148 72,214 72,880 75,231
Professional patient care staff 15,565 21,231 22,401 50,233 57,019 58,544 64,264
Psychiatrists 3,394 3,933 3,583 6,009 6,500 6,160 4,920>
Other physicians 452 180 237 671 585 353 369
Psychologists2 1,100 1,356 1,512 2,983 3,951 4,182 2,245
Social workers 1,904 2,515 2,552 5,634 7,241 7,985 5,198
Registered nurses 6,922 9,445 10,611 23,454 28,473 28,355 45,968
Other mental health professionals 1,519 3,394 3,583 7,658 9,643 10,812 5,089
Physical health professionals and assistants 274 408 323 3,824 626 697 475
Other mental health workers 10,270 12,738 12,565 10,915 15,195 14,336 10,968
Administrative, clerical, and maintenance staff 5,147 5,652 5,942 9,039 8,411 8,939 5,301
Percent distribution of FTE staff
All staff 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Patient care staff 81.9 85.7 85.5 87.1 89.6 89.1 93.4
Professional patient care staff 50.2 53.6 54.8 71.6 70.7 71.6 79.8
Psychiatrists 11.0 9.9 8.8 8.6 8.1 7.5 6.1
Other physicians 1.5 0.5 0.6 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.5
Psychologists2 3.6 3.4 3.7 4.3 4.9 5.1 2.8
Social workers 6.1 6.3 6.2 8.0 9.0 9.8 6.5
Registered nurses 22.3 23.8 25.9 33.4 35.3 34.7 57.1
Other mental health professionals 4.9 8.6 8.8 10.9 12.0 13.2 6.3
Physical health professionals and assistants 0.9 1.0 0.8 5.4 0.8 0.9 0.6
Other mental health workers 33.1 32.1 30.7 15.6 18.8 17.5 13.6
Administrative, clerical, and maintenance staff 16.6 14.3 14.5 12.9 10.4 10.9 6.6

Sources: Published and unpublished inventory data from the Survey and Analysis Branch, Division of State and Community Systems Development, Center for Mental Health Services.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.

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