Staffing of mental health organizations, United States, 1986

Between 1984 and 1986, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed in specialty mental health organizations in the United States increased 12 percent from 440,925 to 494,591. Much of this increase could probably be attributed to the increase in the number of mental health organizations during this period from 4,438 to 4,747. With the exception of freestanding psychiatric outpatient clinics, which showed a 1 percent decrease, all of the other mental health organization types showed varying amounts of increase in FTE staff, with the most notable gains reported by private psychiatric hospitals, RTCs for emotionally disturbed children, and multiservice mental health organizations. Of the 494,591 FTE staff employed in mental health organizations in 1986, 70 percent were classified as patient care staff and 30 percent as administrative and support staff. Private psychiatric hospitals, State mental hospitals, and freestanding psychiatric outpatient clinics had slightly higher percentages of administrative and support staff (40, 35, and 33 percent, respectively), with consequent smaller percentages of patient care staff (60, 65, and 67 percent, respectively). For all other organization types, the percentages of patient care staff were higher, varying from 70 to 87 percent. Professional patient care staff constituted 47 percent of all FTE staff in mental health organizations in 1986, and other mental health workers (less than B.A.) represented only 23 percent of the total. Among each of the organization types, however, the percentages of professional patient care staff were generally higher, and the percentages of other mental health workers lower, with the major exception of State mental hospitals. Seventy-five percent or more of the staff employed in the various types of specialty mental health organizations in 1986 worked on a full-time basis, with the exception of freestanding psychiatric outpatient clinics and the separate psychiatric services of non-Federal general hospitals in which full-time staff represented only 53 and 67 percent of all staff, respectively. For the most part, a majority (50 percent or more) of each of the staff disciplines employed in specialty mental health organizations worked on a full-time basis. The major exceptions were psychiatrists and other physicians, most of whom worked either on a part-time or a trainee basis.