Will licensed practical nurses be replaced by AI?
Updated
Licensed practical nurses score 22 of 100 for AI exposure. 56% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 5% today and speed up another 39%.
- 5% AI can do it
- 39% AI helps
- 56% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 76% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 22 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 7 and leaves 13 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Make appointments, keep records, or perform other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics. Scheduling, records, and clerical work are routine digital tasks. | 80% AI can do it |
| Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments. Inventory tracking and reorder requests are largely software automated. | 65% AI can do it |
| Record food and fluid intake and output. Smart devices and EHR can log intake; staff still measure and verify. | 45% AI helps |
| Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action. AI assisted charting and alerts help; bedside assessment stays human. | 35% AI helps |
| Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary. AI can summarize outcome data; evaluation and team talks stay human. | 35% AI helps |
| Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions. AI can draft care plans; team discussion and bedside judgement remain human. | 35% AI helps |
| Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration. Devices capture vitals and AI can auto record, but measuring stays physical. | 30% AI helps |
| Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet. Software can check trays against diet orders; visual checks remain. | 30% AI helps |
| Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them. AI triage can route calls; assessing patients still needs in person judgement. | 25% AI helps |
| Supervise nurses' aides or assistants. Supervising aides needs in person leadership and accountability. | 15% Needs a person |
Show the other 12 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures. Preparing patients is physical; AI can help draft explanations. | 15% Needs a person |
| Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave. Autoclave operation is physical; sterilization logs can be automated. | 15% Needs a person |
| Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts. Giving meds and starting IVs is hands on; only charting can automate. | 12% Needs a person |
| Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples. Sample collection is physical; some lab analysis is already automated. | 12% Needs a person |
| Provide medical treatment or personal care to patients in private home settings, such as cooking, keeping rooms orderly, seeing that patients are comfortable and in good spirits, or instructing family members in simple nursing tasks. In home personal care is physical; instruction parts are assistable. | 10% Needs a person |
| Set up equipment and prepare medical treatment rooms. Setting up rooms and equipment is physical work done on site. | 10% Needs a person |
| Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers. Handling catheters, trach tubes, and oxygen equipment is hands on. | 8% Needs a person |
| 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. Wound care, catheterization, and massage require physical presence. | 5% Needs a person |
| Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking. Bathing, dressing, and moving patients is physical hands on care. | 3% Needs a person |
| Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles. Applying compresses and hot packs is simple physical work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Clean rooms and make beds. Cleaning rooms and making beds is physical housekeeping work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons. Post mortem care is physical, intimate, and culturally sensitive work. | 2% Needs a person |
How licensed practical nurses compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare practitioners and technical (89)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $64,400 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 648,410 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +3.0% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Chart patient condition changes in Epic Systems EHR
- Verify intake and output records in eClinicalWorks EHR software
- Perform bedside assessments and wound care with hands-on skill
- Hold a current state practical nursing licence
- Take part in care plan discussions with the healthcare team
- Use MEDITECH software for medication and treatment documentation
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about licensed practical nurses and AI
Will AI replace licensed practical nurses?
Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly clerical scheduling and records and supply inventory. Bedside care stays with licensed practical nurses because bathing, wound care, catheterization and moving patients need a person in the room.
Which tasks is AI taking over for licensed practical nurses?
Scheduling, records and clerical work in clinics have an exposure score of 80, the highest in this job, because they are routine digital tasks. Inventory and requisition of supplies follows at 65, since reorder tracking is largely software automated.
Which tasks stay human for licensed practical nurses?
Bathing, dressing and moving patients score 3 on exposure, and basic treatments such as wound dressing and catheterization score 5. These tasks need physical presence, touch and judgement at the bedside, so they stay with nurses.
How do licensed practical nurses stay valuable as AI takes on records?
Spend the time saved on bedside assessment and charting changes in Epic Systems or eClinicalWorks. Verify AI-logged intake and output by measuring it yourself, and keep your state licence current so you can lead hands-on care under registered nurse supervision.
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