Skills
Licensed Practical Nurse Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in licensed practical nurses, and how to build and show them.
Licensed Practical Nurses need technical skills such as medication administration, wound care, and vital signs and patient assessment data collection, plus people skills like clinical judgment and prioritization and leadership of cnas. They also use tools such as Medication carts and eMAR systems and Glucometers.
Technical (hard) skills
- Medication administration
- Wound care
- Vital signs and patient assessment data collection
- Catheter and ostomy care
- IV therapy (where permitted)
- Clinical documentation
People (soft) skills
- Clinical judgment and prioritization
- Leadership of CNAs
- Compassionate communication
- Calm under pressure
Tools, equipment and technology
- Medication carts and eMAR systems
- Glucometers
- Wound care supplies and measuring guides
- Vital-signs monitors
- Feeding pumps
- EHR systems such as PointClickCare or MatrixCare
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how licensed practical nurses put their skills to work:
- How to complete a safe medication pass
- How to perform a simple dressing change
- How to report a change in condition with SBAR
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Medication administration” and “Wound care.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “clinical judgment and prioritization,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as NCLEX-PN license near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our licensed practical nurse glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Licensed Practical Nurse training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.