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Just like how your patients need love, care, and attention, your LPN resume and LVN resume require the same amount of forethought to make them stand out from the rest.
The difference between a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) is based just on their title. While in California and Texas, the title LVN is used, the rest of the US states use the term LPN to refer to the same role.
The primary responsibility of an LPN is to provide routine care to patients and monitor their vital signs. They work under the guidance of Registered Nurses (RNs) and doctors.
If you want your LPN resume to really work its charm on the recruiters and get you shortlisted, you must get your basics right for drafting a good resume.
Read on to get clarity on the following FAQs related to LPN resume or LVN resume:
- How to format your LPN resume correctly?
- How can you write the best LPN resume?
- What are LPN job duties for resumes?
- What are some nursing skills to put on a resume?
- What are some LPN resume summary examples?
- What is an LPN resume objective?
LPN Resume Format
The format of your LPN resume can play a vital role in determining its readability and appeal.
If your LPN resume is not formatted in a correct manner, the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) won't be able to scan your LPN resume and some recruiters may not even read your resume at all.
Follow the following guidelines to format your LPN resume correctly:
- Set 1" margins on all sides
- Your resume font size must range between 10-12 points
- Choose a professional font style like Times New Roman, Calibri, and Ariel
- Avoid font styles that have special characters
- Do not include tables and charts in your LPN resume as the ATS cannot scan them
- Divide your resume into clean sections
- Use a consistent format to write dates in your resume (10/2022, or October 2018)
- Use single or 1.5 line spacing
- Ensure that your resume does not exceed a page (unless you have 10+ years of experience)
Also read: What are the different resume formats?
Drafting the Best LPN Resume
First things first, you need to make a parent file that serves as a compilation of all your professional experiences, skills, achievements, and other details.
Having this information in a file from where you can visually select what you want to highlight in your LPN resume or LVN resume will streamline the entire process for you.
The next step is to choose an LPN resume template that follows the reserve-chronological format.
A reverse-chronological format is very reader-friendly, and as the majority of candidates use this template format, recruiters are familiar with it.
This template showcases the most recent professional experiences in your LPN resume, followed by the older ones.
Once you have got these two things out of the way, you can begin writing your LPN resume.
Here’s a breakdown of the must-have sections in your LPN resume or LVN resume
LPN Resume Header
The header of your LPN resume needs to be your full name. Given the limited time recruiters spend reading a resume, you must ensure that your name and personal details are easy to spot.
If you have a middle name, consider initializing it.
Followed by this, mention your personal details under the header as shown in the example below:
As you can see in the example, you must include the following details:
- A reachable contact number with an ISD code and a “+” sign before the number
- A professional email address
- Your current location (city and state)
- A link to your online portfolio/website (if any)
- Your current designation
Also read: How to format your resume in 2022?
LPN Resume Duties
One of the most important sections in your LPN resume is the professional experience section, wherein you showcase how you used your skills to complete the responsibilities that came with your past roles.
While framing your sentences for this section in your LPN resume, follow these guidelines:
- Present the most relevant experiences and don’t crowd this section with old roles as your LPN resume must be only a page long. (Unless you have 10+ years of experience)
- Avoid writing bulky paragraphs and present the information in one-liner bullet points that start with power verbs.
- Frame your bullet points using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) format to ensure that your one-liners are impactful.
- Use figures and highlight them to draw the recruiter’s attention to your achievements,
Hiration Pro Tip: Since the majority of employers use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to filter the most suitable resumes, ensure to include industry-related keywords in your LPN resume to rank high in ATS and get shortlisted.
Here are some bullet points for your LPN resume that follow the STAR format:
- Provided clinical care to 100+ patients to facilitate their recovery process
- Administered bandage changes and wound dressings to ensure patient’s comfort
- Updated 15+ medical records daily to keep an accurate track record of patient details
- Recorded and maintained medical charts for 50+ patients to ensure the patients get the right treatment
- Assisted in administrative tasks like answering phone calls, entering patients details in the medical database as part of facilitating smooth workflow
- Administered feeding through gastrostomy tubes to 60+ patients as part of providing post-surgical care
Also read: What is the LPN job description?
LPN Resume Education Section and Certifications
The minimum education required to become an LPN is a high school diploma or GED; after which, you need to graduate from an accredited LPN program that includes a year of coursework and vocational training.
You can present your education qualification by listing the name of your program or degree, followed by the institution’s name, and duration of the study.
You can also mention your GPA if it is higher than 3.5.
If you have taken extra certification courses or training, you can list them in a similar format under the certification section as illustrated in the given snapshot:
LPN Resume Skills
Before you list out your skills in your LPN resume, always go through the requirements listed by the recruiters in the job listing to make sure that your skills are a good match for the position.
Pick keywords from the job listing and tailor your skills according to the job description.
You can also pick skills from the professional experience section of your LPN resume or LVN resume.
Besides soft skills like patience, empathy, good communication, and attention to detail, the following are some LPN resume skills examples:
| Pre & Post-surgical Care | Patient Monitoring |
| Wound Care | PICC Line Care |
| Care Plan Assessment | Pre-death Monitoring |
| Medical Documentation | Tracheostomy Suction and Care |
| Rehabilitative Care | Record Management |
| CPR Administration | Unit Preparation |
| Charting | GI Feeding |
LPN Resume Summary
Even though the summary or objective section is usually located at the top part of your LPN resume, consider writing your summary after writing the other sections so that you have a clear idea of what you need to summarize.
Begin your summary with the years of experience you have and highlight the most crucial details about your career trajectory in not more than 3-4 lines.
If you are writing an entry-level LPN resume with no experience, you must write an objective instead of a summary and highlight your academic achievements, volunteer experiences, and certifications.
Like in the other sections of your LPN resume or LVN resume, include a few keywords from the job listing to your summary or objective section as well.
Take a look at the following LPN resume summary examples:
“4+ years experienced Licensed Practical Nurse with a proven track record of delivering excellent patient care in both inpatient and outpatient outlets. Highly skilled in conducting patient assessments and monitoring patients’ vital signs to keep an accurate record of the same. Adept at administering wound dressing, bandaging, etc. as part of providing basic post-op care.”
“Certified Nephrology Licensed Practical Nurse focused on providing dialysis to patients receiving long-term kidney treatment. Adept at maintaining an open line of communication between patients' families and the healthcare team. Highly skilled in evaluating patients' status to create treatment plans to promote recovery.”
And also some and LPN resume objective examples:
Ephatheic Licensed Practical Nurse graduate with 6 months internship experience in providing medical assistance and medical care to patients who require long-term treatment. Adept at patient charting and reporting the status of the patients' ongoing treatment with the doctors and nurses to optimize treatment plans.
Aspiring Licensed Practical Nurse graduate from an accredited LPN program, seeking to put acquired knowledge and skills to provide quality medical assistance to patients. Skilled at administering medications on a timely basis and tracking the patients' progress to update medical charts.
Also read: How to write a resume objective section?
LPN Resume Sample
- Administered 10+ IV therapies on a daily basis including intramuscular medications to ensure cellular homeostasis
- Educated 80+ patients on radiotherapy procedures to comfort them by answering questions and responding to requests
- Ensured timely provision of mediation & treatment to patients with adherence to the patient’s medical chart and history
- Provided post-surgical care such as dressing wounds, changing bandages, to 12+ patients/shift to avoid infection
- Provided support to physicians in curating treatment plans for 50+ patients to minimize pain, discomfort, and infection
- Recorded and maintained medical charts for 50+ patients to ensure the correct treatment plan is provided to patients
- Conducted daily health assessments by monitoring the vital signs and administered medication to 20+ patients daily
- Administered feeding through gastrostomy tubes to 50+ patients as part of providing post-surgical care
- Monitored 20+ patients’ conditions including fluid intake and output to compose and maintain accurate patient records
- Liaised with patients’ family and friends to provide advice, comfort and released post-treatment instructions
- Assisted in administrative tasks like answering phone calls, writing emails, etc. as part of facilitating smooth workflow
- GPA: 3.5/4.0
- Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification | Udacademy | Aug' 17
- Intravenous (IV) Therapy Certification | Healthcare Training Academy | Mar' 19
- Languages: English (native) and Spanish (fluent)
Also read: How to write a good registered nurse resume?
Key Points from the Blog
- The primary responsibility of an LPN is to provide routine care to patients and monitor their vital signs.
- Compile your experiences, skills, and other details of your professional trajectory in a parent file to streamline the process of drafting your LPN resume or LVN resume.
- Use the reverse-chronological format to draft your LPN resume as this format is reader-friendly and highlights your most recent roles.
- Write your full name as the header of your LPN resume, followed by your personal details and current designation.
- Use the STAR format to frame bullet points in the professional experience section of your LPN resume
- Include industry-related keywords in your LPN resume to make it ATS-friendly.
- Tailor your LPN resume skills according to the requirements listed by the recruiters in the job listing to boost your chances of getting shortlisted.
- Your LPN resume summary should begin with the years of experience you have and must not exceed more than 3-4 lines.
Skip the pain-stacking process of drafting your LPN resume yourself and leave it to the experts by using Hiration’s AI-powered resume builder with free LPN resume templates. You can also write to us at support@hiration.com if you have any queries.
