Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
Health ScienceO*NET 29-2061.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $64,211
- Projected change
- +6.4%
- Typical education
- Some college
- Employment
- 675.4K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
38.2% of the workforce
Growing to 718.8K by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking.
- Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.
- Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures.
- Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $49,259
- 25th percentile
- $58,608
- 50th percentile
- $64,211
- 75th percentile
- $75,976
- 90th percentile
- $83,944
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $64,211 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+6.4%faster than average
2025675,402 jobs
2035 projected718,798 jobs
43,396 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Some college
- 38.2%
- Certificate
- 34.8%
- Associate degree
- 15.9%
- Bachelor's degree
- 11.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Licensed Practical Nurses92,215 postings
- 02Licensed Practical Nurses/Licensed Vocational Nurses13,498 postings
- 03Registered Nurses/Licensed Practical Nurses11,331 postings
- 04Licensed Vocational Nurses10,106 postings
- 05Home Health Licensed Practical Nurses8,752 postings
- 06Private Duty Licensed Practical Nurses5,290 postings
- 07Licensed Practical Nurses/Care Coordinators4,985 postings
- 08Pediatric Licensed Practical Nurses4,551 postings
- 09Home Care Licensed Practical Nurses4,447 postings
- 10Medical Assistants/Licensed Practical Nurses3,109 postings
- 11Licensed Practical Nurses/Paramedics/Registered Nurses2,407 postings
- 12Registered Nurses/Licensed Practical Nurses/Certified Nursing Assistants2,200 postings
- 13Medical Licensed Practical Nurses1,996 postings
- 14Long Term Care Registered Nurses1,733 postings
- 15School Licensed Practical Nurses1,715 postings
- 16Outpatient Licensed Practical Nurses1,668 postings
- 17Travel Licensed Practical Nurses1,663 postings
- 18Pediatric Home Health Nurses1,566 postings
- 19Long Term Care Licensed Practical Nurses/Licensed Vocational Nurses1,549 postings
- 20Assisted Living Licensed Practical Nurses1,202 postings
Top employers
- 01Good Samaritan Society5,178 postings
- 02Maxim Healthcare Services4,509 postings
- 03Aveanna Healthcare3,809 postings
- 04Mercy3,429 postings
- 05Care Options For Kids3,342 postings
- 06BAYADA Home Health Care2,807 postings
- 07Amergis2,573 postings
- 08Encompass Health2,244 postings
- 09Southern Health Partners2,188 postings
- 10Optum2,020 postings
- 11Aya Healthcare2,000 postings
- 12UnitedHealth Group1,938 postings
- 13ShiftKey1,627 postings
- 14Pediatric Home Service1,397 postings
- 15Brookdale Senior Living1,264 postings
- 16Family First Homecare1,212 postings
- 17Signature Healthcare1,193 postings
- 18Sanford Health1,182 postings
- 19Advantage Nursing Service1,170 postings
- 20Angels of Care Pediatric Home Health1,080 postings
Keep looking