How to hire a practical nurse

How to hire a practical nurse, step by step

Here's a step-by-step practical nurse hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a practical nurse job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new practical nurse
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a practical nurse do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a practical nurse, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a practical nurse to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a practical nurse that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of practical nurse salaries for various roles:

   Type of Practical Nurse	Description	Hourly rate
   Practical Nurse	Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) provide basic nursing care. They work under the direction of registered nurses and doctors.	$22-57
   Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner	An advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) is responsible for patient care. An ARNP may practice independently or work with other healthcare professionals such as physicians... Show more	$29-73
   Nurse Coordinator	A nurse coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all nurses and their activities in a hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include managing and rotating schedules, assessing nurse performance, organizing nursing programs, and developing strategies to optimize procedures... Show more	$29-49

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • APN
   • Home Health
   • Acute Care
   • Physical Examinations
   • Vital Signs
   • Patient Education
   • Diagnostic Tests
   • NP
   • Primary Care
   • Nursing Home
   • Rehabilitation
   • CPR
   • Direct Patient Care

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
   • Treat patients with dignity, respect, and compassion while maintaining there safety.
   • Maintain safety and quality standards of care while facilitating early discharge of mother and baby.
   • Maintain HIPPA and OSHA guidelines.
   • Receive and implementing Dr orders.
   • Train in lactation and NRP certify.

   More practical nurse duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the practical nurse job description is a good way to get more applicants. A practical nurse salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a practical nurse in North Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level practical nurse. Additionally, a practical nurse with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average practical nurse salary

   $75,363yearly

   $36.23 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level practical nurse salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average practical nurse salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$85,786	$41
   2	Oregon	$80,049	$38
   3	Washington	$78,493	$38
   4	New York	$77,535	$37
   5	New Jersey	$77,305	$37
   6	Pennsylvania	$76,838	$37
   7	Delaware	$76,541	$37
   8	Massachusetts	$76,027	$37
   9	Arizona	$74,363	$36
   10	New Hampshire	$72,359	$35
   11	Alaska	$71,549	$34
   12	Maine	$70,314	$34
   13	New Mexico	$69,829	$34
   14	North Carolina	$68,934	$33
   15	West Virginia	$68,917	$33
   16	Texas	$68,745	$33
   17	Ohio	$64,824	$31
   18	South Carolina	$64,257	$31
   19	Tennessee	$62,803	$30
   20	Oklahoma	$62,559	$30

   Average practical nurse salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University Hospitals	$129,336	$62.18	50
   2	Hunterdon Healthcare	$116,329	$55.93	44
   3	St. Joseph Healthcare	$111,249	$53.49	41
   4	Dignity Health	$110,873	$53.30	535
   5	New London Hospital	$109,786	$52.78	10
   6	St Anthony's Hospital Inc	$108,950	$52.38
   7	Medical Imaging Associates Inc	$108,429	$52.13	147
   8	St. Joseph's Health	$108,177	$52.01	56
   9	Rutgers University	$108,107	$51.97	85
   10	Connecticut Children's Medical Center	$106,015	$50.97	30
   11	CentraState Healthcare System	$104,573	$50.28	6
   12	Scripps Health	$103,994	$50.00	70
   13	Lancaster General Health	$103,535	$49.78	1
   14	Garnet Health	$102,847	$49.45	10
   15	Illinois CancerCare	$101,424	$48.76
   16	Christiana Care Health Services, Inc.	$100,558	$48.35	49
   17	UMiami Health System	$99,852	$48.01
   18	Carilion Clinic	$98,815	$47.51	164
   19	Acuity Insurance	$97,601	$46.92	3
   20	Maxim Healthcare Group	$97,150	$46.71	2,102

4. Writing a practical nurse job description

   A good practical nurse job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a practical nurse job description:

   Practical nurse job description example

   At Scripps Health, you will experience the pride, support, respect that has been repeatedly recognized as one of the nation's Top 100 Places to Work. You'll be surrounded by people committed to making a difference in the lives of their patients and their teammates. So if you're open to change, go ahead and unlock your potential.
   
   Established in 1924 by Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla has been one of Southern California's premier medical centers for more than 90 years. Scripps La Jolla was ranked No. 1 byU.S. News & World Reportfor the San Diego region and among the best in the nation in eight specialties. With 444 licensed beds, we offer a wide range of clinical, surgical and specialty services, including a Level II Trauma Center and 24-hour emergency services. We also offer an intensive care unit (ICU), interventional cardiology and radiology, radiation oncology, cancer care, cardiothoracic and orthopedic services, neurology, outpatient physical rehabilitation, bariatric surgery and women's health services, including OB-GYN and labor and delivery services. We are consistently recognized for quality patient care and we were the first hospital in San Diego to bedesignated a Magnet Hospitalby the American Nursing Association for excellence in patient care.
   
   As the Advance Practice Nurse (RN) in the Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology you will assume clinical leadership responsibilities for nursing and nursing practice. You will take action in house-wide clinical program planning and focus advancement of expert nursing practice. You will evaluate clinical practice for patient care and monitor the standards of practice, as well as, provide the use of evidence-based resources, change and system theories to promote organizational improvements. In addition, you will facilitate point of service decision making activities, including but not limited to education, research and performance improvement for their areas of expertise. The Advance Practice Nurse is a nursing leadership position which functions in the nursing (not medical) model to advance practice within a designated scope of responsibility. This position will be focused on the procedural areas of radiology including interventional radiology and the cath lab areas. This position will also require active participation at the system level on various nursing committees and projects.
   
   This is a full time exempt day shift position (1.0 FTE - 80 hours per pay period - 2 week pay period) with benefits.
   *Required Education/Experience/Specialized Skills:*
   * California Registered Nurse License
   * Master's degree in related field acceptable with bachelors in nursing.Registered nursing degree from an accredited school of nursing.
   * Two (2) years of recent full time RN experience in an acute care setting within hospital environment.
   * Current American Heart Association BLS provider certification
   * Provides portfolio for the interview with at least 2 examples of: creative work such as articles submitted for publication, contributions to texts, papers written for nursing coursework., outlines for classes taught, examples of performance improvement projects or evidence based practice change projects, evidence of leadership activities such as chairing a committee or output developed from activities submitted to a committee or task force.
   
   *Preferred Education/Experience/Specialized Skills/Certification:*
   * Prefer Masters in Nursing - MSN
   * Doctorate recommended - Preferred doctorate in nursing such as DNP, PhD, DNSc. Will accept EdD and others upon review
   * 3 years of Advance Practice Nursing experience
   * CNS certification
   * National Board Certification through ANCC and/or equivalent in specialty area
   * Prefer those with experience leading a project to measured outcomes.
   
   **Job:** **RN*
   
   **Organization:** **Scripps La Jolla Hospital*
   
   **Title:** *Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Cardiac Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology*
   
   **Location:** *Central San Diego County-LA JOLLA-SCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL LA JOLLA*
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right practical nurse for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with practical nurses they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit practical nurses who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your practical nurse job on Zippia to find and recruit practical nurse candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit practical nurses, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new practical nurse

   Once you've decided on a perfect practical nurse candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new practical nurse. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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