Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.
Also known as: Charge Nurse, Clinic Licensed Practical Nurse (Clinic LPN), Clinic Nurse, Home Health Licensed Practical Nurse (Home Health LPN), Licensed Care Coordinator (LCC), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Long Term Care LPN (Long Term Care Licensed Practical Nurse), ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (About average)
What You'd Do
- Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
- Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.
- Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
- Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
- Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures, dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol, massaging, or performing catheterizations.
- Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking.
- Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.
- Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions.
- Record food and fluid intake and output.
- Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.
- Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers.
- Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.
- Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures.
- Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.
- Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles.
- Clean rooms and make beds.
- Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments.
- Provide medical treatment or personal care to patients in private home settings, such as cooking, keeping rooms orderly, seeing that patients are comfortable and in good spirits, or instructing family members in simple nursing tasks.
- Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave.
- Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.