Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

What the job really is

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.

At a glance

• Sector: Healthcare Practitioners
• O*NET-SOC code: 29-2061
• O*NET job zone: 3 — medium preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
• Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
• Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.
• 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.
• Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
• Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.
• Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.
• 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.
• 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 or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.

Tools and technology

Epic Systems, MEDITECH software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, Zoom, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Abdominal binders, Air fluidized beds, Ankle restraints

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Registered Nurses
• Paramedics
• Nurse Practitioners
• Acute Care Nurses
• Nursing Assistants
• Critical Care Nurses
• Emergency Medical Technicians
• Clinical Nurse Specialists

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 3 (medium preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.