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Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.

Also called: Charge Nurse, Clinic Licensed Practical Nurse (Clinic LPN), Clinic Nurse, Home Health Licensed Practical Nurse (Home Health LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Office Nurse

Compare with my current job (Pharmacy Technicians)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$82,190
$39.52/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
8,410
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+2.9%
1,290 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Postsecondary nondegree award

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$61,680$75,050$82,190$87,070$94,110

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
  • Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
  • Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.
  • Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures, dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol, massaging, or performing catheterizations.
  • Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
  • Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure38 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 33
  • Language-model AIOE 38
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 43

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is moderate, and observed AI use is little or none so far. AI tools may help with charting and recording patient information. Hands-on care, giving medications, watching patients for changes, and responding to patient calls rely on people. Massachusetts job growth is projected at 2.9% from 2024 to 2034.

Likely to change

  • Charting and recording patient information
  • Logging vital signs and medication times

Still relies on people

  • Hands-on patient care and treatments
  • Noticing changes in a patient's condition

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

9 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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