On this page
- Resume guide for an LVN resume
- How to write an LVN resume
- Choosing the best resume format for an LVN resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same LVN summary, twice
- Outline your experience as an LVN
- Name the board that licensed you and the certifications your state bolts on
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- LVN job market and outlook
- What salary you can expect as an LVN
- Key takeaways for an LVN resume
- Related medical resume examples
- FAQ
In short, a licensed vocational nurse resume is a one to two page document naming the board that issued your license, the number it carries, the post-licensure certifications your state lets you add on top, and the setting you want to be hired into.
Above all, the title is the first thing to get right. Specifically, vocational nurse is the legal title in two states: California licenses vocational nurses through the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, Texas through the Texas Board of Nursing, and everywhere else the same license is called a licensed practical nurse. Federal wage data counts both as one occupation, so your file has to satisfy a hiring manager who says one word and a keyword screen searching for the other.
Resume guide for an LVN resume
In addition, this guide and the corresponding LVN resume example will cover:
- First, how to write an LVN resume, block by block
- Next, which board licensed you, and why the resume should name it
- Similarly, the post-licensure certifications California and Texas let you carry
- In addition, three adaptable summaries: new graduate, practicing LVN and lead LVN
- How to write one file that survives both LVN and LPN postings
- Finally, what the job market shows and what you can expect to earn
How to write an LVN resume
Overall, six blocks: contact header, summary, license and certifications, nursing experience, skills, and education. As a rule, one page for your first five years; two once you carry post-licensure certifications, hold a second state license, or lead a shift.
In practice, the order follows how a nursing director eliminates files. License first, because it is verified before anything else is read. Certifications second, because in California and Texas they widen the assignments you can be given. Then the work.
BlockWhat it answersWhere it goes
- Board and license numberFor example, which board issued this, and is it current?Contact header, then its own block
- Post-licensure certificationsSimilarly, can this nurse start an IV or draw blood here?Under the license, with the regulation
- Setting and caseloadSkilled nursing, clinic, home health, correctionalSummary and every job heading
- Second-state licenseFinally, can this person work in the state I am hiring for?Named, with board and status
Write the board, not just the word licensed
"Licensed vocational nurse" on its own is a category. The board and the number are the claim. In California, a licensed vocational nurse must be certified by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians to perform intravenous therapy or blood withdrawal (California BVNPT, frequently asked questions, checked September 2026).
That is a board record with your name on it. A hiring manager can confirm it in the time it takes to open a browser tab, and a file that invites them to do so reads differently from one that asks to be believed.
Before you apply, put the finished file through the ATS resume checker first. Health systems, nursing home groups and clinics all screen through an applicant tracking system before a nurse manager opens anything.
Choosing the best resume format for an LVN resume
Reverse chronological, single column, one page until the second page earns itself.
However, one format decision belongs to this occupation. LVN work moves sideways rather than upward: a skilled nursing unit, then a clinic, then home health, then back with a lead role. As a plain list of employers that reads as churn; however, with the setting and size on each heading line it reads as range. Therefore, write "Licensed Vocational Nurse, 96-bed skilled nursing facility", not the employer name alone.
Include your contact information
Bao-Tran Pham
Licensed Vocational Nurse, IV and blood withdrawal certifiedCalifornia LVN #VN-716284, BVNPT, current through 2027(661) 555-1432, baotran.pham@example.com, Bakersfield, CABao-Tran Pham
Nursing professionalLicensed nurse in California(661) 555-1432, nursebao_2019@example.comTwo things belong there that most files leave out: the board abbreviation, so a reader in another state knows which verification lookup to use, and the certifications, because they change what shift you can be given. Meanwhile, a second license under the LPN title goes on its own line with its board and expiry.
Make use of a summary
In short, four lines: license and board, setting and caseload, the certifications you carry beyond the license, and one number that moved.
New LVN adaptable resume summary example
Practicing LVN adaptable resume summary example
Lead LVN adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same LVN summary, twice
Above all, the left column can be verified by a stranger in two minutes and scheduled on Monday. By contrast, the right column is what the other nineteen files in the folder already say.
Outline your experience as an LVN
To begin with, employer, setting, size, shift and dates on the heading line. Then a scope line: your assignment, who supervises you, who works alongside you. Then three to five bullets, each with a number.
- Instead of
Provided nursing care in a long-term care facility
UseCarried a 32-resident medication and treatment assignment on the evening tour of a 96-bed skilled nursing unit
- Instead of
Performed venipuncture and lab draws
UseDrew roughly 40 specimens a week under BVNPT blood withdrawal certification, including difficult-access draws referred by two providers
- Instead of
Assisted with patient care in a clinic
UseRoomed 26 patients a day for two providers: vitals, medication reconciliation, injections, point of care A1c and rapid strep
- Instead of
Handled medication refills
UseCleared a refill and prior authorization queue averaging 70 requests a week inside two business days
Adaptable resume employment history example
Lead Licensed Vocational Nurse, Cotton Creek Community Health, Bakersfield, CA, March 2019 to Present
Four-site federally qualified health center, roughly 31,000 visits a year. Coordinate 11 vocational nurses and medical assistants, reporting to the director of nursing.
Run a 26-patient clinic day for two providers alongside lead duties: rooming, vitals, medication reconciliation, injections, venipuncture and point of care testing.
Own the intravenous therapy and blood withdrawal competency file for the nursing staff, including annual skills checks and each nurse's board certification record.
Rebuilt the diabetes recall list and the outreach script; patients overdue for an A1c fell from 214 to 63 in eight months.
Built a four-week onboarding for newly licensed vocational nurses; first-year turnover fell from 41 percent to 17 percent across two years.
Name the board that licensed you and the certifications your state bolts on
In practice, this is the block that separates two applicants who both wrote "LVN" at the top, and almost nobody writes it.
The board is part of the credential. Two boards issue a license under the vocational nurse title. For example, California's Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians regulates two licenses, licensed vocational nurses and psychiatric technicians (California BVNPT, checked September 2026). Similarly, the Texas Board of Nursing licenses vocational nurses as one of its license types. In contrast, everywhere else it exists under the practical nurse title. Therefore, name your board, because the reader's next action is to look you up.
The certifications California bolts on have hours attached. California treats intravenous therapy and blood withdrawal as post-licensure certifications separate from the license, with minimum course hours set in regulation:
| Certification | Minimum hours | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Intravenous therapy | 30 hours: 24 theory, 6 clinical, including at least 3 individually supervised successful venipunctures on live subjects | 16 CCR 2542 to 2542.5 |
| Blood withdrawal | 6 hours: 3 theory, 3 clinical | 16 CCR 2544 to 2544.4 |
| Combined IV and blood withdrawal | 36 hours: 27 theory, 9 clinical, including 3 supervised venipunctures and 3 supervised skin punctures on live subjects | 16 CCR 2547 to 2556 |
LVN certification routes and license renewal
In particular, two details belong on the page. There are two routes to certification, a board-approved course or verification of competency from a California licensed physician or registered nurse; and the board does not require renewal of either (California BVNPT, checked September 2026). A certification earned in 2014 and unused since is still yours on paper, so say what you have been doing with it.
The license itself renews against continuing education. California licensees must complete 30 contact hours every two years to renew with active status (California BVNPT, frequently asked questions, checked September 2026). For this reason, list those hours by topic; they show what you have been building toward.
Texas puts the gates in a different order. For licensure by examination as a vocational nurse, the Texas Board of Nursing requires the NCLEX-PN, and all applicants must complete the Nursing Jurisprudence Exam before receiving an authorization to test and submit fingerprints for a criminal background check (Texas Board of Nursing, examination information, checked September 2026). If you hold a Texas license, name the jurisprudence exam and its year.
One file, two titles: applying across the LVN and LPN line
In other words, the same license, the same national examination, two words. As a result, the file has to work in both directions without saying anything untrue.
| Where you are applying | What the file should say |
|---|---|
| California or Texas posting | "Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)" as the header title, board and number underneath |
| A posting in any other state | "Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)", plus a line reading "equivalent to the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) license in other states" |
| A national employer, agency or travel posting | Both titles in the header line, and the licensure status for each state |
| A posting listing LPN only, where you are not licensed | Instead, say you have applied for licensure by endorsement with that board, and give the month |
For instance, name the second state's board and give the application status by date. "Licensure by endorsement filed with the Nevada State Board of Nursing, June 2026" is a fact a recruiter can plan a start date around; "willing to obtain licensure" is not.
After all, the national examination is why the two titles are interchangeable at all. Indeed, the NCLEX-PN test plan is published by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing for licensed practical and vocational nurses as a single candidate group (NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan).
Build a snapshot of your key skills
Four groups. In general, every entry is a procedure you have performed or a system you have used. No adjectives.
Adaptable resume skills example
Certified procedures: intravenous therapy and blood withdrawal under 16 CCR 2547 to 2556, peripheral IV insertion, venipuncture including difficult access, skin puncture
Clinical: medication administration by eleven routes, immunizations, wound care by stage, enteral feeding, tracheostomy care and suctioning, catheterization, glucose monitoring and insulin, oxygen therapy, point of care A1c, rapid strep and urinalysis
Documentation and systems: PointClickCare, Epic, NextGen, vital signs and intake and output charting, incident and fall reporting, immunization registry entry, refill and prior authorization queues
Coordination and language: shift report and assignment sheets, onboarding and competency checks, patient recall outreach, interpreting in Vietnamese and Spanish
List your education and certifications
Program and approval status, license with board and number, examination, post-licensure certifications with the regulation behind each, then continuing education.
Adaptable resume education and certification example
Vocational Nursing Certificate, Kern Delta Career College, Bakersfield, CA, 2013. Board-approved program. NCLEX-PN passed 2013
Licensed Vocational Nurse, California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, license #VN-716284, current through 2027
Licensed Vocational Nurse, Texas Board of Nursing, license #V-238417, current through 2027. Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam completed 2021.
Intravenous therapy and blood withdrawal certification, California BVNPT, 2015, 36-hour combined course under 16 CCR 2547 to 2556
Continuing education, 30 contact hours in the current renewal period: wound care and pressure injury staging, diabetes self-management support, dementia care
Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers, American Heart Association, current through 2027
Choose the right layout and design
Single column, 11 or 12 point, plain headings, no photograph, PDF unless the portal says otherwise. License numbers and regulation citations break first when a two-column template is parsed, and those are the lines you cannot afford to lose.
Do
- Name the board that issued your license, with the number and the expiry.
- Write "Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)" in full at least once so both titles are searchable.
- Give the regulation behind each post-licensure certification and the year you completed it.
- Put the setting and the size on every job heading.
- Say how many patients or residents you carry.
- Name the electronic health record.
- If you hold or are seeking a second state license, give the board and the filing month.
Don’t
- Do not write "IV certified" with nothing attached; the hours and the rule are what make it mean something across a state line.
- Do not leave the board name off and assume the reader knows which one.
- Do not claim a certification the board has no record of.
- Do not describe a patient, resident or family in a way that could identify them.
- Do not send one unedited file to a skilled nursing facility, a clinic and a home health agency, because they are reading for three different things.
LVN job market and outlook
A large occupation growing slowly, where nearly all hiring is replacement rather than expansion.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse jobs, 2025 | 666,900 |
| Projected change, 2025 to 2035 | 3 percent, +19,700 |
| Projected annual openings | About 51,800 |
| Typical entry-level education | Postsecondary nondegree award, about one year |
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $64,400 ($30.96 per hour) |
Twenty-six openings for every new job created
The occupation is projected to add 19,700 jobs between 2025 and 2035, a 3 percent increase, while producing about 51,800 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 to 2035 projections). Over the decade that is roughly 518,000 openings against 19,700 of net growth.
Almost every job you apply for therefore exists because somebody left it, not because somebody created it. The employer is replacing a known quantity, and the question is whether you can carry what that person carried.
Which is why the certification block does more work than a career objective ever will. A nurse who can start an IV, draw blood, run a clinic day and take the evening tour is replacing a person, and that is what the opening is for.
Where the jobs sit:
| Setting | Share of employment, 2025 | Median annual wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and residential care facilities | ||
| Hospitals; state, local and private | ||
| Home healthcare services | ||
| Offices of physicians | ||
| Government, excluding education and hospitals |
What salary you can expect as an LVN
For reference, the median annual wage for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses was $64,400, or $30.96 an hour, as of May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
For instance, the published industry table runs from $59,520 in offices of physicians to $68,970 in government excluding education and hospitals, a spread of $9,450 (BLS, May 2025). The two best-paying settings there are also the ones that most often ask a vocational nurse to carry a shift rather than support a provider.
However, what moves pay inside a setting is short, and every item is something a resume can show:
- Certification breadth. Intravenous therapy and blood withdrawal widen the assignments you can be given, and in California they are separate board records, so they are verifiable.
- Shift. Evenings, nights and weekends carry differentials nearly everywhere, and the evening tour in skilled nursing is hardest to fill.
- Second-state licensure. A nurse licensed in both California and Texas, or under both titles, is eligible for postings a single-state file is not.
- Specialty populations. Correctional health, dialysis, infusion, ventilator and dementia units pay for documented competency rather than general experience.
- Language. In agricultural and immigrant-serving regions, a nurse who can take a history without an interpreter changes clinic throughput.
Key takeaways for an LVN resume
- First, name the board, the license number and the expiry in the header.
- Second, write "Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)" in full so both titles are searchable.
- Third, give the regulation and the hours behind each post-licensure certification.
- Say which route you took to certification and what you have done with it since.
- Put the setting and the size on every job heading, because the work moves sideways.
- In addition, give the assignment size: residents on the tour, patients in the clinic day, visits in the week.
- Finally, for a second state, name the board and the filing month.
Related medical resume examples
- Licensed practical nurse resume
- Nurse resume
- Charge nurse resume
- CNA resume
- Home health aide resume
- Nursing home resume
- Medical assistant resume
- New graduate nursing resume
- Psychiatric nurse resume
- Nursing student resume
- Phlebotomist resume
- Clinic coordinator resume
LVN resume questions, answered
Is an LVN the same as an LPN?
The same license under a different name. California and Texas license vocational nurses; every other state uses the practical nurse title. Both sit in one federal occupation, and both are reached through the same national examination, whose test plan is published by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing for practical and vocational nurses together (NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan). Write the title your board issued, then add the equivalence once so a keyword screen in either state finds you.
Should I put my IV certification on an LVN resume?
Yes, with the hours and the rule attached. In California, intravenous therapy certification requires a minimum of 30 hours, 24 theory and 6 clinical including at least three individually supervised successful venipunctures on live subjects; blood withdrawal requires a minimum of 6 hours, and the combined course is 36 hours (California BVNPT, checked September 2026). "IV certified" alone tells a manager in another state nothing, because the standard behind the phrase differs in every jurisdiction.
Does my California IV certification expire?
The board does not require renewal of the intravenous therapy or blood withdrawal certification (California BVNPT, frequently asked questions, checked September 2026). The license itself does renew, and California licensees must complete 30 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew with active status. Because the certification does not lapse on paper, say on the resume what you have actually done with it recently, and how often.
How long should an LVN resume be?
One page for your first five years. Two once you carry post-licensure certifications, lead a shift, precept, hold a second state license, or have worked across skilled nursing, a clinic and home health.
What do I put on an LVN resume with no experience?
Write your clinical rotations as jobs: the site, the weeks, the unit type, the patient population, the medication routes you gave under supervision, the supervised venipunctures you completed, and the charting system. Then the program and its board approval, the NCLEX-PN date, the license number, and the certifications you finished alongside the program. With about 51,800 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 to 2035 projections), a newly licensed vocational nurse already certified to draw blood and start an IV is an easy first hire.