LPN Resume
An LPN resume has to be precise about scope, because the difference between an LPN and an RN is not seniority — it is what each license permits. Medication passes, wound care, tube feedings and monitoring are the core of the LPN role, while initial assessments and care plans generally remain with the RN. This guide shows how to present that scope accurately, with an example, the sections long-term care and sub-acute units expect, and the keywords they screen for.
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What every LPN resume must include
- License, state and expiry. An LPN license is tied to a state board of nursing, and compact status matters if you want to work across state lines. Put this above everything else.
- The setting and unit type: long-term care, sub-acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing, assisted living or home health. A 30-resident long-term care assignment and a 20-patient sub-acute unit are different jobs.
- Your typical medication pass — the number of residents and the system, for example “28-resident pass through the eMAR”. This is the single most transferable number in LPN work.
- Clinical procedures you perform: wound care and dressing changes, PEG tube feedings, catheter care, oxygen and nebulizer treatments, specimen collection and diabetic monitoring.
- An accurate scope statement. Say that you practice under the supervision of an RN or physician and that initial assessments and care plans remain with the RN where that is the rule in your state.
- Delegation experience, described precisely: which tasks you delegated to nursing assistants, how you verified completion, and that you followed your state board's rules.
Scope accuracy is not modesty — it is screening protection. A director of nursing rejects an LPN resume that claims RN-level assessment work, because it signals either inexperience or inflation. State the license, the pass size, the procedures and the delegation rules you actually followed.
LPN Resume Example
Example resume
A one-page, ATS-safe LPN resume for a sub-acute and long-term care nurse. This is the structure our builder produces — switch templates, export PDF or DOCX, no account needed.
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Recommended sections for an LPN resume
- Licensure — LPN license, state board, expiry, compact status and BLS, at the top of the first page.
- Summary — two lines: years of experience, setting, medication pass size and the procedures you handle.
- Experience — reverse-chronological, with resident census and pass size in the first bullet of each role.
- Clinical skills — medications, wound care, tube feedings and monitoring grouped for quick scanning.
- Documentation and systems — eMAR, PointClickCare or MatrixCare, incident reports and MDS input.
- Education — the practical nursing program, completion date and NCLEX-PN passage.
How to write LPN bullets that survive a skim
Lead with the census and the task, then the outcome. Long-term care runs on numbers — how many residents you medicated, how many wounds you dressed, how many assistants you directed — and those numbers are what a director of nursing compares.
- Instead of “Passed medications” → write “Completed a 28-resident medication pass each shift through the eMAR, verifying and documenting all scheduled and PRN doses.”
- Instead of “Did wound care” → write “Performed dressing changes and wound assessments for 8–10 residents a week, documenting stage progress and reporting changes to the RN care manager.”
- Instead of “Supervised CNAs” → write “Delegated daily care to 4–6 nursing assistants per shift within state delegation rules, verifying completion and documenting care delivered.”
- Instead of “Admitted patients” → write “Admitted and discharged residents, completing required paperwork, orienting families and reconciling medications with the pharmacy.”
LPN skills and keywords
Nursing homes and sub-acute units post nearly identical LPN listings: medication pass, wound care, G-tube, eMAR, PointClickCare and delegation. Read two or three postings in your area and mirror the terms that are genuinely true of your practice.
- Licensure: LPN, LVN, state board of nursing, compact license, BLS, IV certification
- Medications: medication pass, eMAR, PRN doses, insulin, injections, narcotic counts, medication reconciliation
- Clinical: wound care, dressing changes, PEG tube feedings, catheter care, tracheostomy care, oxygen, nebulizers, specimen collection, blood glucose monitoring
- Documentation: PointClickCare, MatrixCare, Epic, Cerner, MDS input, incident reports
- Coordination: delegation to nursing assistants, family communication, shift handoff, infection control, fall prevention
ATS notes for LPN resumes
Skilled nursing groups and staffing agencies screen LPN resumes with applicant tracking, and the first filter is the license. Anything that prevents the license line from parsing can end the application before a human sees it.
- Write the license in full, then the acronym: “Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Ohio Board of Nursing, exp. 10/2027”.
- Keep documentation system names as plain text — “PointClickCare”, “MatrixCare” — not “computer charting”.
- Date every assignment by month and year so a unit manager can read how long you held each post.
- Stick to conventional headings: Licensure, Experience, Skills, Education.
- Keep the layout single-column; a license card scan contributes nothing to a parser.
The license line, medication pass size and delegation language are the first things a director of nursing's screening system sorts on. ShitResume keeps every template on one linear structure, so the license parses before the experience and the PDF or DOCX export keeps that order. There is no account, and no trial to run out.
Common mistakes on LPN resumes
- Describing RN-level responsibilities such as initial assessments or care plan development, which overstates the license.
- Leaving out the medication pass size, the number that most directly shows your daily workload.
- Writing “delegated to CNAs” without noting that you followed state rules and verified completion.
- Omitting the charting system, when PointClickCare experience is often listed as a requirement.
- Burying the license below a long summary that repeats the job title.
- Listing IV skills without noting the state certification or the limits on IV push in your state.
ShitResume charges nothing for any of it: every template and every export is free, and the license number, unit history and medication pass figures stay in your browser, because nothing is uploaded and no account exists. Keep the page ready for the next shift handoff; renewals and unit changes come faster than people expect.
Skills and keywords for this role
Use the terms that genuinely describe your work — an interviewer will ask about anything you list.
- Licensure: LPN or LVN license, state board, expiry, compact status, BLS, IV certification where the state requires it
- Medication administration: medication passes, eMAR and MAR documentation, PRN doses, insulin, injections, narcotic counts, medication reconciliation
- Clinical skills: wound care and dressing changes, PEG tube feedings, catheter care, tracheostomy care where trained, oxygen, nebulizers, specimen collection
- Settings: long-term care, sub-acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing, assisted living, home health, hospice, clinic
- Documentation: PointClickCare, MatrixCare, Epic, Cerner, MDS input, incident reports, care conference notes
- Coordination: delegation to nursing assistants within state rules, family communication, shift handoff, infection control
Frequently asked questions
What should an LPN resume include besides work experience?
The license with its state board and expiry, BLS, IV certification if your state issues one, the charting systems you have used, and a clear statement of the care you provide. LPN screening starts with the license and the medication pass, so both belong in the top third of the first page. Include the resident census you carried, because it is the clearest measure of your workload.
How do I describe delegation on an LPN resume?
Name the task, the people and the verification: “delegated daily care to 4–6 nursing assistants per shift within state delegation rules, verifying completion and documenting care delivered”. Delegation rules vary by state, and the nursing process itself cannot be delegated. An accurate line shows leadership without claiming authority the license does not carry.
Can an LPN administer IV therapy?
It depends on the state. Many states allow LPNs to perform IV therapy with additional certification, some permit only certain procedures, and some restrict IV push medications to RNs. List any IV certification you hold with the state that issued it, and avoid claiming IV push experience where your state does not permit it. Check your board of nursing's rules before writing the line.
How is an LPN resume different from an RN resume?
The difference is scope, not formatting. Initial assessments, care plan development and independent nursing judgment generally belong to the RN, while the LPN executes and monitors under supervision — medication passes, wound care, tube feedings, specimen collection and condition reporting. A strong LPN resume describes that work precisely instead of borrowing RN language.
How long should an LPN resume be?
One page for most LPNs. The work is concrete — medication pass size, wound care, tube feedings, charting — and a second page usually repeats duties rather than adding new information. Give the current role three or four bullets, earlier roles one or two, and keep the license at the top where it is verified first.
What LPN keywords do nursing homes screen for?
Medication pass, eMAR, PRN, wound care, dressing changes, PEG tube, catheter care, insulin, narcotic counts, PointClickCare, MDS, delegation, infection control and fall prevention. Copy the posting's exact terms where they are true of your practice, and state your license with the issuing board so the credential line parses cleanly.