LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) Resume: Samples and Guide

Your LVN resume has to show you can do all the dirty jobs or you won’t get the interview. You can insert catheters, check blood pressures, change bandages, and do it all while keeping RNs and doctors happy. How can you convince them you’re qualified with just a skinny sheet of paper?

You can do it.

If you do a few things different from the other LVNs, you’ll get the job you want. The key point? Avoid talking about your “responsibilities” in your last job like it’s the plague. Focus instead on how you made a difference in your patients’ lives. Sound hard? It’s not. Just follow the steps and use the template below.

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• Job Resume Examples for All Professions

Sample LVN Resume Template

Here’s how to write your own job-getting LVN resume:

1. Format Your LVN Resume Correctly

“I just don’t want to put much effort into this.” Can you imagine saying that about patient care? But—if the layout of your resume doesn’t look crisp and professional, employers will imagine a lazy employee. Pay close attention to your font choice, margins, and the overall look of your LVN resume to get the interview.

A perfect resume will give off a feeling of confidence and capability. Use the right resume format:

• Start with the chronological resume layout. Of the three resume types, it works best for most job-seekers.
• Not sure what your resume should look like? Save yourself some hassle by choosing a good-looking traditional resume template that you can modify to fit your needs.
• The best resume fonts are easy to read, like Helvetica or Calibri. Set the size at 10 to 12 points, You can adjust it later if your resume is too long or too short.
• Don’t put a street address on your resume unless you live right near the hospital or clinic you’re applying to.
• How long should a resume be? One page is perfect. Your goal should be to condense the highlights into your career, so they fit in that single page.
• The right name for a resume file is “Name - Job Title - Resume.pdf”

Read more: Resume Styles

2. Get Noticed With a LVN Resume Objective or Summary

To get them to read your LVN resume more carefully, start with a resume introduction.at the top. That’s just a short paragraph where you tease the key features in your resume.

If you’re an entry-level LVN, write a career objective statement. That’s where you talk about your goal to help the healthcare facility. You’ll also show a few highlights from your LVN career or schooling.

If you’ve been around since leeches were a patient care technique, write a career summary statement. Tell them how long you’ve been working as a nurse, and add a wow-getting accomplishment or two.

Read more: Resume Profile Statement Examples

3. Target Your Licensed Vocational Nurse Resume Job Description

Yikes! You just submitted 50 resumes for LVN jobs and no-one answered! Sound familiar? I know the reason. It’s because you’re not targeting your resumes. You can’t just talk about your duties. You know, “I provided patient care. I started IVs. I conducted tube feedings.” A resume like that won’t fly.

Instead, you have to show you were a standout LVN.

Here’s how to describe work experience on a resume so it knocks their scrubs off:

• Start with your newest LVN job.
• List the job title, the name of the hospital or clinic, where it is, and when you started and stopped working there.
• Tailoring your resume is vital. To do it, create a bullet list of accomplishments underneath your job title. Use numbers to show magnitude.
• Start each sentence with powerful verbs for resumes like provided, helped, and delivered.
• When you finish with your newest job, add your next newest, and so on.

Read more: How Far Back Should a Resume Go?

4. Write a Healthy LVN Resume Education Section 

You have to know how to put education on a resume to get the job. Yes, you need an LVN license, but don’t just show you got one. Make your degree stand out a little with a key achievement. The idea is to show you didn’t just go through the motions to get certified.

• Start your education section with your school name and your graduation date.
• You can list relevant coursework in an LVN resume like patient education or wound dressing. You can also add recognition from professors or from a preceptor.
• Did you score high on the NCLEX-PN? You can add that as a way to get employers to notice you.
• You can add a GPA to a resume for LVN jobs if it was blisteringly high.

Read more: How to List a Degree on a Resume

5. Prove Key LVN Skills

It’s a common mistake to put too many skills in a resume. Instead, give them a quick sampling of just the core competencies for the position. That means taking the time to look through the job ad and jot down the nursing skills near the top. If you do this right, your resume will stand out like cute-cat scrubs.

Here's how to prove your LVN skills are healthy:

• List the top 10 to 12 skills you see in the LVN job posting.
• Blend in both soft skills and hard skills. What are hard skills? They’re those job-specific skills like monitoring fluid intake or patient mobilization.
• Be sure to prove each of the skills in your list with LVN achievements in your bullet points.

LVN Resume Skills

• Post-surgical care
• PEG tube
• Basic patient care
• Patient monitoring
• Glucose checks
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Administering medications
• Rehabilitative care
• O2 treatment
• Pre-death monitoring
• Wound care
• Tracheostomy care
• Care plan assessment
• Pressure sore care
• Admitting and discharging
• GI feeding and tubes
• Meditech documentation
• PICC Line care
• Patient & family education
• Time management skills
• Computer skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Verbal and written communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Decision-making skills
• Technical skills 
• Interpersonal skills
• Teamwork skills
• Organizational skills

Pro Tip: The best resume keywords are the skills you noticed in the job ad. To make your resume ATS-compliant, sprinkle in them throughout the whole document.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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6. Add “Extra” Sections to Your LVN Resume

Sure, you’re an LVN. But—what kind of person are you? Show it with extra sections in your resume.

• Add your license in its own section near the top of your resume.
• A volunteer section on a resume can show your energy is boundless.
• List language skills on a resume if you speak the same language as many of the patients.

Read more: What are the Right Sections of a Resume?

7. Write a Cover Letter for Your LVN Resume

How important is a cover letter for LVN jobs? Very. Without a cover letter, you’ll look like you don’t care about this nursing job. They’ll think you applied to 100 jobs and interviewing you will waste their time. Prove them wrong. That’s what a cover letter is for. But there’s a certain way to do it.

For a perfect cover letter:

• Modify a good modern cover letter template so you don’t have to struggle figuring out what to say.
• Start with a cover letter introduction that gets them interested in your LVN career and skills.
• Use the second paragraph to point to some of the most Cleveland-Clinic-ready parts of your resume.
• When ending a cover letter, tell them what you like so much about the hospital or clinic. Then offer to come in for an interview.

How many words should a cover letter be? About 300 to 400, and a bit less than a full page.

Read more: Please Find Attached My Resume: What to Use Instead?

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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That’s it!

That’s everything you need to write a great licensed vocational nurse resume!

Thanks for reading! Do you have another question on how to make a great LVN resume? Give us a shout in the comments section!