US dataswitch to UK
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
observing patients, sterilizing equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer or autoclave and evaluating nursing intervention outcomes. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: measuring and recording patients' vital signs is work software can't reach.
What shifts is making appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics: the overhead at the edges, not the middle you trained for.
Your week, as this page understands it
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. The job title says “licensed practical” or “licensed vocational nurses”: officially one job, two names. The real job is the part underneath: measuring and recording patients' vital signs. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is not one task. It is 22 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is measuring and recording patients' vital signs, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 3%
- changing shape
- 0%
- staying human
- 97%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 9 out of 100 (6–14 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 22 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-04. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
1 taskTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Making appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics
This is reading one thing and writing another: appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Make appointments, keep records, or perform other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Appointments, records and clerical work in a clinic are already handled well by practice software.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
0 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Nothing in this job’s scored task list landed in this group. That is the measurement, not an editorial choice, and it is worth knowing either way.
Staying human
21 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Observing patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions
This work happens in the physical world: patients, charting and reporting changes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 4 out of 100 (0–8 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Noticing a patient's condition change means being at the bedside, and acting on it is legally a licensed nurse's job.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Measuring and recording patients' vital signs
This work happens in the physical world: patients' vital signs, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–7 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Taking a temperature, weight or blood pressure means putting equipment on the patient.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Answering patients' calls and determining how to assist them
This work happens in the physical world: patients' calls, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 4 out of 100 (0–8 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Answering a call bell means going to the patient's room and helping in person.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Providing basic patient care or treatments
This work happens in the physical world: basic patient care, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “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.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Wound dressing, catheters and similar care are hands-on treatments given at the bedside.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Administering prescribed medications or starting intravenous fluids
This work happens in the physical world: prescribed medications, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Giving medicines or starting a drip is physical and legally reserved to licensed staff.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Evaluating nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members
The rules require a named, qualified person to answer for intervention outcomes, and that person cannot be a piece of software.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 19 out of 100 (12–26 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Judging whether care is working can be supported by chart data, but the decision is legally a licensed nurse's.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Collecting samples, such as blood, urine or sputum from patients and performing routine laboratory tests on samples
This work happens in the physical world: samples, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Drawing blood and other samples means a trained person with the patient in front of them.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Supervising nurses' aides or assistants
This work happens in the physical world: nurses' aides, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 9 out of 100 (2–16 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Supervising aides mixes being on the ward with the personal authority to direct their work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Working as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs
This work happens in the physical world: part of a healthcare team, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 13 out of 100 (6–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Care planning can be drafted from records, but assessing and treating the patient happens at the bedside under a licence.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Show the other 12 tasks
Inventorying and requisitioning supplies and instruments
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: supplies, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (31–45 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Reordering supplies is easy to automate, though counting stock on the shelf still needs someone there.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Recording food and fluid intake and output
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: food, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Record food and fluid intake and output.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 33 out of 100 (26–40 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Logging intake and output is straightforward record-keeping, though someone still has to measure it at the bedside.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Preparing or examining food trays for conformance to prescribed diet
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: food trays, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 13 out of 100 (6–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Matching a tray to a diet order is a simple check, but someone has to look at the actual food.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Preparing patients for examinations, tests or treatments and explaining procedures
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: patients, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (1–15 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Explaining a procedure can be scripted, but getting the patient physically ready happens in the room.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Helping patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed or standing and walking
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: patients, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Helping someone bathe, dress or walk is direct physical care of another person.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 3/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Assembling and using equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes or oxygen suppliers
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Assembling and using catheters, airways and oxygen equipment is physical clinical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Applying compresses, ice bags or hot water bottles
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: compresses, ice bags or hot water bottles, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Applying a compress or ice bag means placing it on the patient.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Cleaning rooms and making beds
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: rooms, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Clean rooms and make beds.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Cleaning rooms and making beds is physical work on the ward.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Providing medical treatment or personal care to patients in private home settings
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: medical treatment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “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.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Home care mixes hands-on treatment with cooking and housekeeping in the patient's own home.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 3/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Sterilizing equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer or autoclave
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Sterilising instruments means loading and running the equipment in the department.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Washing and dressing bodies of deceased persons
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: bodies of deceased persons, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Preparing a body after death is direct physical care carried out with dignity by a person.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Setting up equipment and preparing medical treatment rooms
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Set up equipment and prepare medical treatment rooms.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Setting up a treatment room means physically laying out equipment in it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $64,400a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 648,410in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: making appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics. What it cannot do is be answerable: patients' vital signs need a named person the rules will accept, and software cannot be that person. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: measuring and recording patients' vital signs is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 3% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 0% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 97% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 22 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Making appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether patients' vital signs are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near observing patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was nursing assistants: only about 17% of its durable work is work you already do and it pays 34.4% less. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 9/100 here, with only 3% of the task list in the top band, and “observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Nursing Assistants
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing…, and their equivalent is to provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities. Across both published task lists that is about 17% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 17% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. It is a pay cut, in those words: $42,260 against your $64,400, 34.4% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Medical Assistants
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already measure and record patients' vital signs, and their equivalent is to interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and…. Across both published task lists that is about 14% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 14% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. It is a pay cut, in those words: $45,690 against your $64,400, 29.1% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Family Medicine Physicians
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures, and their equivalent is to explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients. Across both published task lists that is about 7% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 7% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. The pay gap is the market pricing a barrier: $244,180 against your $64,400 is 3.79× (OEWS May 2025 (both)), and you would be crossing it holding about 7% of their durable work. A gap that size with an overlap that small is a wish, not a route. And it is a narrow door: about 107,510 of those jobs against 648,410 of yours (OEWS May 2025), 17% as many seats.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 3% of its task weight, across 22 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like measuring and recording patients' vital signs arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
If you run a team doing this job
If you run a team doing this job, the conversation you owe them is the one on this page, and sooner than feels comfortable. Show them the ledger rather than a reassurance: the rows moving toward the software are making appointments, keep records or performing other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics, and the rows that are not are where you want your people visible. Ask each of them to do the this-week move and bring the list to your next one-to-one. It turns a rumour into a piece of work, and it tells you which parts of your team's week are actually at stake. And say the thing out loud that a team lead usually leaves unsaid: a shrinking team is your exposure too, so do the move yourself as well.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Other registered nursing professionals is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Other registered nursing professionals. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
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Why there is no community here
Collab365, who build this site, run paid Spaces for a small number of subjects, and none of them is built for this job. We are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
So the free services listed on this page are the whole answer, and it is the same answer we would give a friend.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for licensed practical / licensed vocational nurses launches. Nothing else.
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No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 22 official task statements scored for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses (United States, SOC 29-2061), 3% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 9 out of 100 (range 6–14, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Make appointments, keep records, or perform other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics” (79/100, high); “Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments” (38/100, low); “Record food and fluid intake and output” (33/100, low). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses” stay human?
- About 97% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Set up equipment and prepare medical treatment rooms” (0/100, minimal); “Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons” (0/100, minimal); “Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 3% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 97% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 22 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-04.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.