To improve the node energy utilization and extend the lifetime of the network, a clustering node sleep scheduling algorithm with particle swarm optimization(CNSS-PSO) in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is presented by combining clustering algorithm and sleep scheduling algorithm. In CNSS-PSO, the binary encoding mechanism is used and mutation and crossover operators of the genetic algorithm are introduced. The maintenance of network coverage and the optimization goals of the reduction of energy consumption are taken into account, and a corresponding discrete particle swarm optimization method is constructed. Simulation results show that CNSS-PSO improves the effectiveness of the network energy consumption and it has better performance on the network coverage maintenance with effectively extending the lifetime of the network.