Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist pay range
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania · class code 30560
- Class code
- 30560
- Pay scale group
- ST 09
- Pay unit
- Year
- Bargaining unit
- P5
- State
- Pennsylvania
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania published pay range for Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist is $78,925 to $119,844 per year.
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration keys this classification as class code 30560.
- This is the range the plan authorises, not the salary of any individual employee.
Class specification
The Commonwealth job specification for this class is published by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration. The passages below are quoted from it as published, not paraphrased, and cut to their opening sentences; the full specification is the authority on duties and qualifications. It was last revised 09/05/2023.
What the state says the job is
This is professional psychiatric clinical nurse specialist work within a State Mental Hospital. An employee in this class is responsible for providing a variety of advanced skill direct psychiatric nursing services as well as for functioning in an advisory, consultative, and educational capacity to line nursing staff in any general or specialized psychiatric care area or other specialized unit. Work involves identifying and assessing psychiatric nursing needs and problem areas within the hospital and developing individualized approaches to meeting these needs and solving nursing problems. Work further involves providing instruction to psychiatric nursing service personnel in the application of new approaches and specialized clinical techniques of psychiatric nursing to individual patients.
Examples of the work
• Assesses and identifies broad program and specific nursing care needs of patients at a State Mental Hospital. • Intervenes when psychiatric nursing problems arise which require specialized clinical techniques. • Conducts research studies to develop new or improved approaches and techniques in providing patient care services. • Acts as resource person to the nursing staff and interdisciplinary treatment teams concerning specialized treatment programs and individualized treatment plans for patients. • Organizes and conducts various treatment modalities such as individual psychotherapy, group therapy, milieu therapy, and behavior modification.
Minimum qualifications
• Two years of pre- or post-master's clinical experience in psychiatric/mental health nursing and a master's degree in psychiatric/mental health nursing.
Special requirements
• All positions require active authorization to practice as a Registered Nurse in Pennsylvania. • All employees possessing an active temporary practice permit must obtain licensure as a Registered Nurse within the one (1) year period defined by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
Quoted from the Commonwealth job specification, read 2026-10-21.
Where this comes from
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration publishes this figure in Classification and Pay Plan (online, current annual salary ranges). Every number on this page is read from that document; nothing is estimated, modelled or averaged.
The Commonwealth also links this class code to its own job title and specification. That page is the official description of the classification; this page publishes its pay range.
The listed pay scale is available in the Commonwealth's current ST schedule.