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Sharp HealthCare
San Diego, California

Licensed Psych Social Worker - Sharp McDonald Center - Per Diem - Variable Shift

Social WorkerIncludes callIncludes weekendsPer Diem

Listed compensation

$50.72-$73.31/hr

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about the work setting, nights and shift pattern, benefits and time off.

Posted 47m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Hours: Shift Start Time:

Variable

Shift End Time

Variable

AWS Hours Requirement

8/40 - 8 Hour Shift

Additional Shift Information

Variable

Weekend Requirements

As Needed

On-Call Required

No

Hourly Pay Range (Minimum - Midpoint - Maximum)

$50.720 - $65.450 - $73.310

The stated pay scale reflects the range that Sharp reasonably expects to pay for this position. The actual pay rate and pay grade for this position will be dependent on a variety of factors, including an applicant’s years of experience, unique skills and abilities, education, alignment with similar internal candidates, marketplace factors, other requirements for the position, and employer business practices.

What You Will Do

To assist patients and families with behavioral health and environmental resources to reach the maximum level of functioning during the current episode of care. This position is responsible for conducting behavioral health psychosocial assessments and clinical interventions, inclusive of individual, group, and family therapy. In collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, coordinates patient care and provides case management for assigned patients.

Required Qualifications

  • Master's Degree Social Work from an accredited graduate program
  • 1 Year Experience in a behavioral health setting
  • California BBS Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences -REQUIRED
  • AHA Basic Life Support for Healthcare Professional (AHA BLS Healthcare) - American Heart Association -REQUIRED

Preferred Qualifications

  • 3 Years Experience in a behavioral health setting
  • Acute/psychiatric hospital experience, discharge planning/case management experience

Essential Functions

Communication and Teamwork

Maintains ongoing communication with multi-disciplinary team members regarding patient status and follow-up. Consults with team members in development of treatment plans.

Attends treatment team and staff meetings inservices and case presentations as designated by unit/department/program.

Arranges and facilitates patient care conferences for difficult/high-risk psychosocial cases to enhance resolution of identified issues.

Identifies Bioethical dilemmas and initiates appropriate response.

Testifies at Certification Review and Reise hearings regarding patient's current mental health status as appropriate.

Consults, coordinates, and intervenes in crisis situations while assisting staff in de-escalating volatile situations and facilitating Code Green and critical incident debriefings.

Develops interdisciplinary education to increase staff knowledge.

Discharge and Patient Follow Up

Utilizes appropriate community resources on behalf of patients and families.

Develops an appropriate and timely discharge plan. Educates patient and family of options for discharge based on patient's mental health/legal/insurance status.

Provides continuity of care referrals to patients and families for ongoing community services/support upon discharge.

Schedules follow up appointment with psychiatric provider within 7 days of discharge. Provides discharge information to next level of care.

Completes thorough safety planning with patient and family including gun removal as an appropriate measure.

Leadership

Provides professional role modeling and collaboration with interdisciplinary team, assisting unlicensed MFTs, Social Workers and students to develop competency and acquire technical skills:

Designs, implements, and/or supports evidence-based processes and therapeutic programs for patients and families that improve clinical practice.

Provides the acquisition of clinical knowledge and skills to new staff/student interns and interdisciplinary team.

  • Provides leadership as role model and/or consultant to develop/retain professional clinical staff.
  • Foster the integration of the professional role as a clinical decision maker by providing consultation and educational presentations to members of the healthcare team.
  • Attends and participates in meetings and assists management in decision making in absence of Manager/Lead.
  • Patient assessment
  • Assesses, evaluates, and documents the psychosocial needs of the patient and family:
  • Performs appropriate patient assessments (psychosocial, SI/HI, safety, DC planning) as related to the clinical services provided.
  • Formulates plan of care based on clinical assessment.
  • Develops and implements treatment goals which address identified patient needs.

Completes all documentation elements as appropriate, including, but not limited to, assessments, treatment plan, consultations, recommendations and interventions.

Documentation is performed in a timely, complete, legible, concise and accurate manner, in accordance with Sharp HealthCare and professional license guidelines, meeting third-party payor and regulatory requirements.

Safe and Therapeutic Environment

Provides therapeutic interventions within the scope of care with patient and family that are appropriate to the patient's diagnosis, developmental milestones, age, culture, and ethnic diversity:

Demonstrates knowledge and safe use of therapeutic procedures, appropriate clinical boundaries, and treatment modalities.

Demonstrates effective crisis intervention, problem solving techniques in individual/family therapy, and therapeutic process groups and is a resource to others in these areas.

Reports all mandatory protective concerns such as Elder Abuse, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Tarasoff as required by law and Sharp HealthCare policies and procedures.

Serves as a patient advocate through encouraging patient and family participation in decision making and acts to uphold individual rights.

Informs, educates, supports, and evaluates patient/family response to therapeutic interventions via collateral calls, conjoint therapy sessions, utilization review process, and/or referrals and revises care plan as necessary.

Sharp HealthCare is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability or any other protected class

Key Responsibilities

The Licensed Psych Social Worker conducts behavioral health psychosocial assessments and provides clinical interventions including individual, group, and family therapy. They also coordinate patient care in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team and manage discharge planning and community resource referrals.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a Master's degree in Social Work and possess a California Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) license. At least one year of experience in a behavioral health setting and AHA Basic Life Support certification are required.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)

Key Skills

Psychosocial assessmentClinical interventionIndividual therapyGroup therapyTreatment planningPatient advocacyInterdisciplinary collaborationDe-escalation

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Licensed Psych Social Worker - Sharp McDonald Center - Per Diem - Variable Shift at Sharp HealthCare a 6.4 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Social Work — ranked against 6,480 active Social Work listings on WeekdayDoc.

Social Worker Career Context

Of the 50 active Social Work listings this role was benchmarked against, 34% are remote, 20% have no call, 52% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$129k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $117k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

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Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks31 jobs

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Sign-on bonus
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PSLF eligible
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Loan repayment
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Work-life snapshot

median 6.0this job 6.4
Better work-life than 60% of Social Work listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 6,480 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • Includes call
  • Includes weekends

Living in San Diego

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$1.01M
Typical market rent
$3,036/mo
Residents’ average commute
24 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
111.9
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.