The effect of a change of director in a psychiatric inpatient unit

Suicide, aggressive acting out, and increased numbers of AWOL patients are distinct possibilities if internal structures of psychiatric impatient units are altered-especially in units that offer intensive therapeutic experience on a short term basis to severely ill patients. One such time is when the directorship changes in this kind of unit. A sucessful unit is frequently thought to be the result of the charismatic leadership of its chief. With his departure, the unit loses its elan and becomes an uninspired pedestrian operation. Hence, such a unit loses personnel and even its program when the chief changes. In this paper, the authors give data to support the hypothesis that a unit with a specific philosophical treatment orientation will continue to function at a relatively high level of effectiveness and efficiency regardless of the difference between chiefs.