Licensed Practical Nurse resume example

• Entry level

  Newly licensed practical nurse who passed the NCLEX-PN in May after a 12-month diploma program with clinicals in long-term care, a pediatric clinic and a rehab unit. Practiced supervised med passes for up to 12 residents, plus dressing changes and G-tube feedings. Two years as a CNA before school, so already comfortable with lifts, call lights and night shift routines.

• Mid level

  LPN with six years in skilled nursing, now evening charge nurse for a 32-bed rehab hall. Runs med passes for up to 30 residents, completes wound treatments and supervises 4 CNAs per shift. Trained in IV therapy under state rules, comfortable with PICC flushes and peripheral IV care for short-stay patients, and cited for no errors on the last two medication audits.

• Senior

  Licensed practical nurse with fourteen years across long-term care, home health and a multi-provider family practice. Most recently lead LPN for the clinic, coordinating immunizations, injections and prior authorizations for 4 providers and training new medical assistants. Holds a multistate license and the Wound Care Certified credential, and keeps charting ready for any state survey or payer audit.

• Borrowing RN wording like "assessed" and "developed care plans"

  Fix: In many states the RN completes the comprehensive assessment and care plan, and the LPN collects data, performs focused checks and contributes to the plan. Nurse managers notice the difference. Use verbs like "collected," "monitored," "reinforced teaching" and "contributed to care plans," and use "assessed" only for what your state lets LPNs do.

• Listing the license without type, state or status

  Fix: "Licensed" alone is not enough. Write the title, state, status and whether it is multistate, for example "LPN, Ohio, multistate, active through 2027." Add IV therapy or other added-scope training on its own line. Employers verify through the board or Nursys, so the details must match exactly.

• Not sizing the med pass

  Fix: Med pass work is the core of most long-term care LPN jobs, and its size varies widely. Give the number of residents, whether it includes insulin, controlled substance counts and tube feedings, and your accuracy record on pharmacy or nursing audits. "28-resident evening pass, zero errors on two audits" says more than any adjective.

• Leaving out charge and supervision duties

  Fix: LPNs often work as charge nurse in nursing homes and rehab units, where state rules allow it. Show how many CNAs you supervised, how many beds you covered, and what you handled: admissions, falls, family calls, provider updates. Those lines show you can run a shift, which is what many LTC postings are really asking.

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• Passed medications for 30 skilled nursing residents each evening shift, including insulin and controlled substances, with zero errors found on two pharmacy audits.
• Supervised 4 CNAs per shift as evening charge nurse on a 32-bed rehab hall, setting assignments and checking ADL charting before report.
• Completed 45 wound treatments a week, measuring and photographing pressure injuries for the wound nurse and charting progress in PointClickCare.
• Handled 6 admissions in one shift during a hospital discharge surge, transcribing orders and reconciling medication lists with the pharmacy.
• Reinforced diabetic teaching for 20 short-stay residents before discharge, using teach-back on insulin pens and glucose meters.
• Gave 70 flu vaccines a day during clinic drives, screening each patient against standing orders and logging doses in the state immunization registry.
• Cut late medication passes from 18 to 3 a month by reorganizing the cart and the med pass route with the unit manager.
• Flushed and maintained 12 PICC lines a month for residents on IV antibiotics, within facility policy and state LPN scope.
• Processed 35 prior authorization requests a week for a 4-provider practice, bringing the usual approval time under three business days.
• Audited 60 MARs and treatment records ahead of the annual state survey; the facility received no medication-related deficiencies.

• Mirror the setting and scope in the posting

  A clinic LPN posting and a nursing home charge posting want different first lines. Lead with the setting they run, then echo their must-haves, such as IV certification, a named EHR or night charge. If the posting lists a task your state does not allow LPNs to perform, leave it out rather than stretch your wording. Optimize your LPN resume for a job link

• Put license and shift in the opening lines

  Start the cover letter with your license state, whether it is multistate, and the shift you want. Then give one example from a similar setting, such as running an evening med pass with no late doses during a staffing gap. Close with your start date and anything pending, like an IV course you are finishing. Write an LPN cover letter

• Practice med pass and delegation questions

  Expect questions about the rights of medication administration, what you do when a resident refuses a dose, how you handle a narcotic count that does not match and when you call the RN or provider. Charge roles add questions about assigning aides and handling a fall at shift change. Answer with clear, ordered steps. Prepare for an LPN interview

• Rewrite, not retitle, when you become an RN

  Finishing a bridge program changes what employers expect to read. Look at the registered nurse example to see how assessment, care planning and patient ratios are presented, then rewrite your LPN roles to show the judgment you already used. Keep the LPN license line until the RN license appears on Nursys. See the registered nurse example