Nurses are important members of healthcare facilities. Some patients would even prefer talking with, and generally being with, nurses instead of doctors. They are often deemed as friendly and understanding. What most people do not know is that there are different career paths available for nurses. One such path is towards being a practical nurse.

Practical nurses, as the name suggests, provide more practical or basic care for patients. They ensure that the patient is comfortable at all times. They are assigned to work with a doctor and/or a registered nurse. They may be assigned to handle laboratory results, take patients' vital signs, and administer treatment courses. Yes, this is one of those roles where you would feel like someone's life is in your hands.

If you have endless patience, you would definitely be a good fit for this role. Of course, you also need to have a stellar performance review in order to succeed.

What Does a Practical Nurse Do

There are certain skills that many practical nurses have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, patience and speaking skills.

Learn more about what a Practical Nurse does

How To Become a Practical Nurse

If you're interested in becoming a practical nurse, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.1% of practical nurses have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 22.2% of practical nurses have master's degrees. Even though most practical nurses have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Practical Nurse

Practical Nurse Career Paths

Average Salary for a Practical Nurse

Practical Nurses in America make an average salary of $75,363 per year or $36 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $120,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $47,000 per year.
Average Practical Nurse Salary
$75,363 Yearly
$36.23 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Practical Nurse

The role of a practical nurse includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general practical nurse responsibilities:

  • Work with and assist the head nurse, registered nurse
  • Direct the day-to-day functions of the nursing personnel assigned to you in accordance with current rules, regulations,
  • Experience in understanding of/and systematic review

There are several types of practical nurse, including:

Registered Nurse

Role:

If you're looking for a job that will provide a lot of opportunities, you've come to the right place. Registered nurses are needed everywhere to provide patient care and educate patients about various health conditions.

All registered nurses need to be licensed, but there are three different ways you can go about it. One is earning a bachelor's degree in nursing. Another is to obtain an associate's degree in nursing. Or receive a diploma from a nursing program.

  • Average Salary: $73,349
  • Degree: Associate Degree

Licensed Practical Nurse

Role:

A licensed practical nurse, also known as an LPN, works in a healthcare setting. Their responsibilities range from providing routine care to taking note of patients' health. The LPN is super-important to each patient's visit.

LPNs also serve a critical role in helping doctors and registered nurses when needed. Sometimes, as an LPN, you'll have to explain a lot, including medication, home-based care, and preventative lifestyle changes

While, you'll probably work a full-time schedule, it may look a little wonky. Some days you might work a shift that's longer than 8 hours or you might have to take a weekend or night shift. The schooling it takes to become an LPN isn't that long, in fact, most LPN programs take a year to complete.

  • Average Salary: $52,912
  • Degree: Associate Degree

Staff Nurse

Role:

If healthcare is your name and helping patients is your game, then you might consider a career as a staff nurse. Typically, you'll work in a healthcare facility of some sort, whether that be a hospital or a nursing home.

As a staff nurse, you'll be working closely with doctors and other nurses to ensure patients receive the utmost care and treatment for their health conditions. Usually, this line of work seals the deal with crazy hours. But staff nurses tend to be a little different.

It can vary, but you usually won't work over 40 hours a week. In fact, some weeks you may only work 35 hours. This great schedule does come with a price tag - student debt, to be exact. In order to become a staff nurse, you'll need to earn a bachelor's degree. I mean, you have to know what you're doing in this job so that much makes sense.

  • Average Salary: $68,342
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Practical Nurse Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active practical nurse jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where practical nurses earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Practical Nurse Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Florida16,476$64,510
2Texas15,619$67,524
3California12,761$86,154
4Pennsylvania10,528$75,894
5New York9,696$77,125
6Ohio8,070$68,262
7Massachusetts6,944$75,073
8Georgia6,926$61,014
9North Carolina6,529$68,981
10Illinois6,434$62,108
11Virginia5,659$74,614
12Indiana5,545$63,165
13Michigan5,119$68,007
14Tennessee5,052$60,242
15Washington4,929$77,735
16New Jersey4,716$77,197
17Maryland4,170$75,318
18Minnesota3,670$59,849
19Missouri3,521$58,196
20Arizona3,496$74,099
21Colorado3,477$60,440
22South Carolina3,296$64,504
23Wisconsin3,245$62,759
24Louisiana2,918$66,116
25Kentucky2,512$62,616
26Iowa2,429$58,568
27Alabama2,396$60,595
28Oklahoma2,355$59,246
29Oregon2,324$80,874
30Connecticut2,279$77,076
31Kansas2,063$57,793
32Arkansas1,869$58,664
33New Mexico1,704$69,659
34Mississippi1,536$61,675
35New Hampshire1,490$73,073
36Nebraska1,409$57,304
37West Virginia1,369$70,004
38Maine1,318$69,097
39Nevada1,279$85,226
40South Dakota1,008$57,859
41Montana884$64,132
42Idaho883$73,092
43Delaware882$76,373
44North Dakota852$58,589
45Utah824$70,790
46Vermont660$69,429
47Alaska642$70,811
48Rhode Island615$76,407
49Wyoming392$60,707
50Hawaii342$65,733

Practical Nurse Education

Practical Nurse Majors

74.0 %

Practical Nurse Degrees

Bachelors

30.1 %

Masters

22.2 %

Associate

19.8 %

Top Colleges for Practical Nurses

1. Emory University

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,306

Enrollment

6,975

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

3. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

4. Maria College of Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,140

Enrollment

876

5. Clarkson College

Omaha, NE • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,392

Enrollment

646

6. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Ponce

Mercedita, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,914

Enrollment

4,155

7. SUNY at Buffalo

Buffalo, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,099

Enrollment

21,404

8. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Arecibo

Arecibo, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,872

Enrollment

3,553

9. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon

Bayamon, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,940

Enrollment

4,169

10. Vermont Technical College

Randolph, VT • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,108

Enrollment

1,350

Top Skills For a Practical Nurse

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.3% of practical nurses listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and patience are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Practical Nurse Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Practical Nurse templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Practical Nurse resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Practical Nurse diversity

Practical Nurse Gender Distribution

Female
Female
86%
Male
Male
14%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among practical nurses, 85.7% of them are women, while 14.3% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among practical nurses is White, which makes up 60.4% of all practical nurses.

  • The most common foreign language among practical nurses is Spanish at 66.4%.

Online Courses For Practical Nurse That You May Like

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Best States For a Practical Nurse

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a practical nurse. The best states for people in this position are California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Practical nurses make the most in California with an average salary of $86,154. Whereas in Nevada and Oregon, they would average $85,226 and $80,874, respectively. While practical nurses would only make an average of $77,735 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Pennsylvania

Total Practical Nurse Jobs: 10,528
Highest 10% Earn:
$128,000
Location Quotient:
1.32

2. Nevada

Total Practical Nurse Jobs: 1,279
Highest 10% Earn:
$141,000
Location Quotient:
0.89

3. West Virginia

Total Practical Nurse Jobs: 1,369
Highest 10% Earn:
$118,000
Location Quotient:
1.31
Full List Of Best States For Practical Nurses

How Do Practical Nurses Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Practical Nurse Employers

Most Common Employers For Practical Nurse

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1University Hospitals$129,336$62.1820
2Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center$110,163$52.9620
3Rutgers University$108,107$51.978
4Maxim Healthcare Group$97,150$46.7115
5Aurora Health Care$88,899$42.747
6Planned Parenthood$82,934$39.8723
7St Joseph's Hospital$80,021$38.4710
8HCR ManorCare$79,877$38.4011
9LTCG$75,788$36.4420
10St. Joseph Regional Medical Center$74,835$35.987

Practical Nurse Videos

Becoming a Practical Nurse FAQs

Practical Nurse Vs Rn

A practical nurse typically provides assistance to doctors and registered nurses, while an RN (registered nurse) provides direct care to patients.

A practical nurse is responsible for a range of hands-on patient care and administrative tasks. This includes monitoring a patient's health, such as vital signs and overall health condition. Changing bandages and inserting catheters. They also provide basic patient care, such as daily physical activities. A practical nurse is subordinate to doctors and registered nurses and will assist them in certain medical procedures.

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