Top 12 Practical Nurse Skills to Put on Your Resume
In a crowded nursing job market, a resume that fuses sharp clinical know-how with calm, human care speaks loud. For Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), the following twelve skills telegraph competence, safety, and readiness to step in without a fuss.
Practical Nurse Skills
- Phlebotomy
- EHR (Electronic Health Records)
- CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)
- Wound Care
- Medication Administration
- IV Therapy
- Patient Education
- Vital Signs Monitoring
- Infection Control
- HIPAA Compliance
- Glucose Monitoring
- Cerner (Oracle Health)
1. Phlebotomy
Phlebotomy means drawing blood for tests, transfusions, or procedures. LPNs use it often: accurate IDs, clean sticks, steady hands, no shortcuts.
Why It's Important
Timely, correctly collected specimens drive diagnoses, trend tracking, and treatment choices. Good draws reduce redraws, patient discomfort, and downstream delays.
How to Improve Phlebotomy Skills
Know the map: Vein anatomy, preferred sites, and when to pivot. Master patient identification and the order of draw.
Technique, tight: Anchor the vein, correct angle, smooth entry. Practice with simulation and supervised real-world attempts.
Asepsis always: Hand hygiene, gloves, clean site, single-patient tourniquets per policy. Prevent contamination from prep to transport.
Right tools: Choose needle gauge and collection system that match vein quality and test needs. Label at the bedside—before you walk away.
Prevent problems: Watch for syncope, hematomas, or difficult veins; adjust position, release tourniquet promptly, mix tubes gently as specified.
Calm the room: Explain, reassure, and check pain or needle fears. Communication steadies the hand and the patient.
Review and refine: Seek feedback, track success rates, and keep skills fresh with periodic refreshers.
How to Display Phlebotomy Skills on Your Resume
2. EHR (Electronic Health Records)
EHRs are digital charts that pull together meds, allergies, histories, orders, and results. For LPNs, it’s the hub: documentation, coordination, and safe handoffs.
Why It's Important
Accurate, timely entries reduce error, strengthen communication across teams, and keep care moving. If it’s not charted, it’s hazy at best—lost at worst.
How to Improve EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills
Train deeply: Complete core training and practice in a sandbox. Learn the flowsheets you’ll actually live in.
Document smarter: Build favorites, use smart phrases, templates, and picklists. Voice tools when available, precision over speed when it counts.
Medication safety: Reconcile meds and allergies carefully, use the eMAR as your single source of truth, and scan whenever the system supports it.
Find what matters fast: Results review, trending vitals, problem list hygiene. Less clutter, better signal.
Privacy baked in: Minimum necessary access, lock screens, no unsecured messaging of patient info, log out—every time.
Stay current: New features roll in; tip sheets and super-user pearls save minutes and mistakes.
How to Display EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills on Your Resume
3. CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)
CPR keeps oxygen moving during cardiac arrest with hard, fast compressions and ventilations, buying time until a heart can be restarted.
Why It's Important
Seconds matter. Competent CPR preserves brain and heart perfusion, nudging survival odds upward when chaos tries to take over.
How to Improve CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Skills
Keep certification current: Refresh on schedule and learn the latest updates without letting muscle memory fade.
Drill the mechanics: Rate 100–120/min, depth 2–2.4 inches for adults, full recoil, minimal pauses. Practice with feedback devices when available.
Defib early: AED on fast. Rotate compressors every two minutes to protect quality.
Breathe right: Two-rescuer bag-mask technique when possible; airway adjuncts only within scope and competency.
Team rhythm: Clear roles, closed-loop communication, loud timestamps. Debrief afterward; keep what worked.
Ready body, steady mind: Basic fitness and mental rehearsal both help when adrenaline spikes.
How to Display CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Skills on Your Resume
4. Wound Care
Assessment, treatment, and vigilant follow-up for acute and chronic wounds. Balance moisture, protect skin, stop infection before it starts.
Why It's Important
Good wound care speeds healing, prevents complications, and preserves comfort. Little choices—right dressing, gentle cleanse—compound into better outcomes.
How to Improve Wound Care Skills
Assess with structure: Measure L×W×D, note undermining, exudate, odor, pain. Use the TIME framework (Tissue, Infection/Inflammation, Moisture, Edge).
Clean wisely: Normal saline most of the time; avoid harsh agents unless clearly indicated. Debride per policy and training.
Match the dressing: Foams, alginates, hydrofibers, hydrocolloids—choose by moisture needs and wound type to maintain a healing environment.
Offload and protect: Repositioning schedules, pressure redistribution surfaces, and heel offloading for pressure injuries.
Hunt infection early: Escalating erythema, warmth, pain, stalled edges—know when to culture and when to call.
Feed the healing: Encourage adequate protein, fluids, and micronutrients as care plans allow.
Teach and document: Clear home-care steps, return-demonstrations, secure photos per policy, and precise notes.
How to Display Wound Care Skills on Your Resume
5. Medication Administration
Preparing, giving, and documenting medications safely, while watching for effects and teaching patients what to expect.
Why It's Important
Medication errors harm quickly. Consistent, methodical habits shrink risk and keep therapies on target.
How to Improve Medication Administration Skills
Know the rights—expanded: Right patient, drug, dose, route, time, documentation, and indication; add allergy verification and patient education.
Use tech: Barcode scanning (BCMA), eMAR cross-checks, and hard stops are your allies—lean on them.
High-alert meds: Independent double-checks, tall-man lettering awareness, and zero tolerance for dangerous abbreviations.
Calculate and verify: Doses, rates, and pediatric/renal adjustments—confirm before you commit.
Communicate fast: Clarify unclear orders, document holds and reasons, and report adverse reactions promptly.
Reconcile at transitions: Admission, transfer, discharge—close the loop with clean lists.
How to Display Medication Administration Skills on Your Resume
6. IV Therapy
Delivering fluids, meds, and nutrition directly into the bloodstream. Quick onset, precise control—high payoff when done right.
Why It's Important
From dehydration to antibiotics to electrolytes, IV therapy turns plans into physiology fast. Safe technique prevents a parade of complications.
How to Improve IV Therapy Skills
Know your scope: LPN IV privileges vary by state and facility. Confirm policy before initiating therapy or IV pushes.
Pick the site and size: Smallest gauge that meets therapy needs; stable vein, distal to proximal progression when possible.
Aseptic from start to finish: Chlorhexidine skin prep with full dry time, no-touch insertion, proper hand hygiene, clean connections.
Secure and protect: Stabilize catheter, use extension sets, and dressings that let you visualize the site.
Program with precision: Pump settings, dose checks, and compatibility verification before you hang anything.
Monitor relentlessly: Assess for infiltration, extravasation, phlebitis, or infection. Rotate or remove per policy.
Document the story: Gauge, site, attempts, patient response, fluids/meds, rates, and teaching provided.
How to Display IV Therapy Skills on Your Resume
7. Patient Education
Translating conditions and treatments into clear, doable steps. You teach; patients practice; outcomes inch upward.
Why It's Important
Understanding fuels adherence, safety, and confidence. It also trims readmissions and near-misses.
How to Improve Patient Education Skills
Start where they are: Gauge baseline knowledge, preferences, and cultural or language needs. Use interpreters appropriately.
Set focused goals: Simple, specific, time-bound targets that patients help choose.
Teach back: Ask patients to explain or demonstrate what they’ve learned—then fill the gaps.
Show, don’t just tell: Visuals, models, pill cards, and return demonstrations cement new habits.
Keep it plain: Short sentences, everyday words, and only the essentials for now. Layer more later.
Follow through: Written takeaways, contact points, and scheduled check-ins to reinforce.
How to Display Patient Education Skills on Your Resume
8. Vital Signs Monitoring
Temperature, pulse, respirations, blood pressure, and O2 sat—captured correctly, trended wisely, acted on quickly.
Why It's Important
Vitals are early whispers of trouble. Catch the drift before the drop.
How to Improve Vital Signs Monitoring Skills
Technique first: Right cuff size and position, patient at rest, accurate respiratory counts, and pulse oximetry free of motion or nail polish interference.
Validate equipment: Calibrated devices and fresh batteries prevent phantom readings.
Trend and escalate: Use early warning scores when available and notify promptly when thresholds trip.
Document promptly: Record in real time and note context—pain, activity, oxygen delivery.
Teach the basics: Home BP and glucose devices need technique too; quick coaching prevents false alarms.
How to Display Vital Signs Monitoring Skills on Your Resume
9. Infection Control
Policies, habits, and vigilance that keep pathogens from traveling. Protect patients, protect staff, protect everyone else too.
Why It's Important
Transmission prevention is non-negotiable. Small lapses ripple across units and days.
How to Improve Infection Control Skills
Hand hygiene—every time: Before and after patient contact, after glove removal, after body fluid exposure, before aseptic tasks.
PPE done right: Correct selection, proper donning and doffing, and fit-tested respirators when indicated.
Standard and transmission-based: Contact, droplet, airborne precautions as ordered—and as common sense dictates.
Safe injections: Single-dose vials for one patient, never re-cap, sharps disposed immediately and correctly.
Clean the environment: High-touch surfaces and shared equipment disinfected between uses.
Stay current: Immunizations, post-exposure protocols, and policy refreshers keep you sharp.
Teach patients: Hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and isolation rationale build cooperation.
How to Display Infection Control Skills on Your Resume
10. HIPAA Compliance
Following privacy and security rules for protected health information. Confidential means confidential—verbal, written, or electronic.
Why It's Important
Trust hinges on privacy. Regulations carry teeth, but the real cost is patient confidence lost.
How to Improve HIPAA Compliance Skills
Minimum necessary: Access only what you need, share only what’s required, verify identities before discussing details.
Secure the tech: Strong passwords, locked screens, encrypted devices, and no personal clouds or texting for PHI.
Privacy in practice: Speak softly in public spaces, avoid names at open desks, and shred or secure paper.
Honor patient rights: Provide notices, respect requests for records, and respond within required timeframes.
Report quickly: Know your facility’s breach process and escalate suspected incidents without delay.
Refresh often: Short trainings and reminders beat once-a-year memory tests.
How to Display HIPAA Compliance Skills on Your Resume
11. Glucose Monitoring
Checking blood glucose with meters or continuous sensors, spotting patterns, and acting before problems bloom.
Why It's Important
Good monitoring steers diet, meds, and activity—avoiding hypoglycemia, blunting spikes, and preventing complications over time.
How to Improve Glucose Monitoring Skills
Technique matters: Clean hands, adequate sample, correct strip use, and control solutions when quality checks are due.
Interpret the data: Understand fasting vs. post-meal targets and the idea of “time in range” (often 70–180 mg/dL for many adults, individualized per plan).
Coach consistently: Teach meter use, site rotation, sharps disposal, and signs of hypo/hyperglycemia with action steps.
Use CGM wisely: Trend arrows, sensor lag, and alert settings—translate numbers into decisions patients can manage.
Close the loop: Log readings, note meals/insulin/activity, and share patterns with the care team for adjustments.
How to Display Glucose Monitoring Skills on Your Resume
12. Cerner (Oracle Health)
Cerner—now part of Oracle Health—supports documentation, orders, eMAR, results review, and team communication. It’s the daily workspace for many units.
Why It's Important
Clean documentation, accurate medication workflows, and quick access to the right information keep patients safer and care teams synced.
How to Improve Cerner (Healthcare Software) Skills
Navigate like a pro: Learn your core mPages, PowerChart views, and flowsheets. Customize tabs and favorites to match your routine.
Document efficiently: Auto-text, templates, and dynamic documentation reduce clicks and keep notes consistent.
Own the eMAR: Barcode scan, verify orders, resolve discrepancies immediately, and watch for warnings you should not ignore.
Use order sets: Standardized orders reduce omissions and speed up initiation of care.
Lean on super-users: Join user groups, collect tip sheets, and share wins or pain points so build teams can improve workflows.
Protect data: Log off when you leave, avoid copy-forward errors, and keep problem/med/allergy lists tidy.
How to Display Cerner (Healthcare Software) Skills on Your Resume
