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LVN and LPN Resume Examples
You’ll find a range of LVN resume examples, from mental health LVN resume examples to telemetry samples, to use as writing guidelines along with matching LVN cover letter examples and customizable resume templates to help you improve your resume.
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LVN Resume Example (Text Version)
[Your Name]
[City, State ZIP Code]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number LinkedIn]
Resume Summary
[Insert your summary here. This should be a brief statement highlighting your core qualifications and career goals.]
Summary of Qualifications
- [Insert qualification #1]
- [Insert qualification #2]
- [Insert qualification #3]
- [Insert qualification #4]
[Type of] Skills
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 1]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 1]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 1]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 1]
[Type of] Skills
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 2]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 2]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 2]
- [Add relevant accomplishment or responsibility related to Skill 2]
Education
[Degree Earned]
[High School Name, Location]
[Graduation Date or Estimated Graduation Date]
- [OPTIONAL: Add relevant coursework or academic achievements]
- [OPTIONAL: Add any honors or awards received]
Work History
[Job Title #1 | Club or Employer Name #1]
[Location, Year]
[Job Title #2 | Club or Employer Name #2]
[Location, Year]
How to Write a LVN Resume
Follow our resume writing advice to learn how to phrase your nursing skills and accomplishments, or read on to find good and poor LVN resume examples. You must also find the right resume format to help prioritize your technical training, knowledge and experience.
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Professional header and contact info:
Add your name, contact information and a professional email address. Use design elements like colorblocking to stand out.
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Compelling summary statement:
A summary or objective highlighting two or three LVN resume skills examples or accomplishments.
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Highlight your skills:
Create a dedicated section to showcase hard and soft skills specific to nursing, like bedside manner, patient advocacy or medication distribution.
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Emphasize your work history:
List your work experience in reverse-chronological order. Include job titles, company names, dates of employment and key responsibilities and achievements for each role in a bullet list.
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Supporting education section:
Detail your educational background, mentioning any relevant degrees, diplomas or certifications obtained.
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Additional sections:
You can add resume sections for licenses, certifications, industry memberships or unions, awards, volunteer experience or spoken languages.
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How to Write a LVN Resume Summary
Most hiring managers can spend as little as seven seconds on your resume. Since a resume summary sits near the top of your resume, a detailed and impressive introduction can encourage them to give your application more attention.
A resume summary is a brief introduction that pitches two or three job-relevant skills or nursing achievements and reveals your understanding of the job. Here’s how to write a strong summary statement.
Focus on key qualifications:
Mention your years of experience, certification completion date, specialized training or relevant nurse placement programs. Focus on skills and experience that are related to the job requirements.
Use numbers to share achievements:
Emphasize your accomplishments in previous roles, such as improving patient care outcomes or contributing to a more efficient work environment. Use numbers like the percentage of satisfied patients or glowing reviews to help paint a complete picture.
Keep it short but detailed:
Write at most three to four sentences. Use engaging power words to keep hiring managers engaged.
Strong and weak LVN summary
Dedicated licensed vocational nurse with five years of experience providing compassionate care in hospital and long-term hospice care. Proven ability to manage multiple patients with complex needs, administer medications and collaborate with multi-care teams. Certified in IV therapy and CPR with a strong focus on patient safety and quality care.
Why this LVN summary statement works:
This LVN resume example mentions the job seeker’s experience level and relevant skills like IV therapy and CPR. It also focuses on patient-facing experiences, such as medicine administration and multi-patient management, as well as interpersonal skills.
Licensed vocational nurse with nursing experience in hospitals and clinics. Can perform multiple tasks related to patient care.
How this LVN summary statement fails:
Although this candidate shares their hospital and clinic experience, they must share tangible information. A hiring manager would be left wondering what, if any, skills they can quickly perform.
You can improve this summary example by sharing specific information about your previous employers and daily duties.
Pro tip: If you’re recently certified or changing into a nursing career, try a resume objective instead! This introduction acknowledges your lack of direct experience but highlights how your transferable skills help you meet the job requirements. This introduction helps promote your deep understanding of the job and patients’ needs.
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How to Add Your LVN Resume Work History
Unlike the summary statement, which is a detailed snapshot of a few key skills, your work history section is a detailed timeline that covers your employment history, notable responsibilities and key achievements.
Although this is the longest section of your resume, your space is still limited. Here’s how to add the most information:
Work your way back:
Start with your current or most recent job and work backward. Each job entry will include your job title, employer, location, dates of employment, and a bulleted list of accomplishments and responsibilities. Don’t go past ten years.
Add core information:
Instead of listing daily duties, focus on your accomplishments for each role. Focus on patient care, medication, healthcare coordination or overall patient improvement to highlight your positive workplace influence.
Cater to the job opening:
Customize your resume to the LVN opening. Scan the job description for resume keywords like bold, highlighted, or rephrased responsibilities and prioritize matching experience.
Strong and weak LVN work history
Licensed Vocational Nurse | Golden Pines Healthcare Center
Los Angeles, CA | March 2022 – present
- Administer medication to an average 25 patients twice a day, double-checking dosage against the computer system and physical patient file to ensure accurate dosage.
- Manage the care of chronically ill patients, including types 1 and 2 diabetes, hypertension and COPD, with a 15% improvement in patient health outcomes.
- Collaborate with patients, patient families, and primary care teams to develop and implement individualized care plans for 35+ patients, contributing to a 10% reduction in readmission cases.
- Create onboarding and training procedures to help improve team efficiency and patient care standards.
Why this LVN resume works:
This candidate uses specific data, such as 15% health improvements and 10% readmission reduction, to indicate their strong nursing and patient care skills.
Each bullet point refers to specific responsibilities or common illnesses on the LVN job. They also use dynamic language to start their bullet points.
Licensed Vocational Nurse | Golden Pines Healthcare Center
Los Angeles, CA | March 2022 – present
- Gave out medicine.
- Helped doctors and nurses.
- Did paperwork and updated patient files.
- Worked in different departments as needed.
How this LVN resume fails:
Unlike the previous example, this resume fails to share specific information about the candidate’s training or specialty. We don’t learn anything about the number of patients they can care for, what illnesses they specialize in, or how they perform their duties.
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How to Write a LVN Resume Education Section
As someone with a highly technical career path, your LVN resume will benefit from a detailed education section. This section should include your certifications, but you can boost it with the following information:
1List your certification program:
Whether you completed a licensed vocational nurse program in Texas or California or a licensed practical nurse program elsewhere, list the school name, city and state, type of degree or certification, and completion date.
2Add supplemental nurse training:
If you have less than three years of experience, add nurse-related training, such as courses in specialized areas of patient care or advanced medical procedures.
3Highlight relevant certifications:
Add certifications like IV therapy, CPR, first aid or other specialized certifications, especially if the job description requests it.
Education formatting example:
Degrees
Vocational Nursing Program | Long Beach City College
Long Beach, CA | Graduated: June 2022
Relevant Coursework
Relevant Classes: Pharmacology, Geriatric Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Mental Health Nursing
Clinical Experience: 800+ hours of supervised clinical practice in various healthcare settings, including acute care, long-term care and outpatient clinics.
Certifications
Basic Life Support (BLS) ( 2023)
IV Therapy Certification (2022)
CPR and First Aid Certification ( 2021)
Wound Care Certification (2021)
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15 Skills for Your LVN Resume
You learned how to add skills to your resume summary and work history, but you can create a dedicated skills section to showcase an additional six to eight unmentioned skills. The following skills can add value and authority to your LVN resume.
LVN Soft Skills
LVN Hard Skills
Infection control
Medication administration
Patient assessment
Vital signs monitoring
Wound care
LVN Technical Skills
Electronic Health Records (EHR) management
IV therapy
Telemetry monitoring
Basic life support (BLS)
Point-of-care testing (POCT)
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20 LVN Action Verbs
Action verbs offer unique ways to present your qualifications — they infuse your resume with energy and confidence. These powerful words can help retain a manager’s attention and boost you to the top of the applicant pile. Here’s a list of 20 relevant words:
- Administer
- Advocate
- Assist
- Care
- Collaborate
- Communicate
- Coordinate
- Deliver
- Document
- Educate
- Evaluate
- Implement
- Improve
- Manage
- Monitor
- Observe
- Provide
- Record
- Support
- Train
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Additional LVN Resume Sections
Consider adding the following sections to your LVN resume based on your specific circumstances and to enhance your qualifications:
Use a Cover Letter to Express Yourself
A resume is a concise overview of your skills and experience — a cover letter expands on this foundation. Add a cover letter to share one or two examples of how you excelled in similar roles or how your skills match a company’s needs. Use this sample as a guide, or visit our helpful resources to boost your application.
LVN Resume FAQ
How will my resume pass applicant tracking systems (ATS)?
To pass an ATS, use keywords from the job description, such as “patient care,” “medication administration” or “IV therapy.” Avoid complicated resume templates with images, graphs or tables.
Use an ATS-friendly resume template with standard section headings like “Experience” and “Skills” to ensure the software correctly scans your resume.
How long should my LVN resume be?
Unless you’re applying for a managerial position, your LVN resume must fit on one page. Restrict your resume to the last ten years of experience and limit each job entry to three or four bullet points to make the most of your page space.
What’s the average salary for a licensed vocational nurse?
Although pay rates vary depending on your experience level and regional minimum wage, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a median salary of $59,730. LVNs can earn between $45,670 to $77,870.
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Last edited by: Gabriela Barcenas, CONTENT STRATEGIST - November 12, 2024
Gabriela Barcenas
CONTENT STRATEGISTGabriela is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and career adviser. With 10 years of digital media experience and five years of resume writing expertise, her publication history includes fashion, education, travel, social justice, equitable design and career advice.