AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses?

Task-level automation exposure for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

32% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$64,400 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

648,410 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+3.0% employment change

51,800 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$30,760 – $83,150

Highest medians

Washington $83,150

Alaska $80,800

Oregon $80,470

Massachusetts $80,220

Rhode Island $80,090

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $30,760

Guam $42,870

Mississippi $50,220

South Dakota $52,750

West Virginia $55,360

State figures come from the 29-2061 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 32%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 19%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 50%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 26%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 39/100 Moderate

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 17%

4 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 22%

4 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 61%

14 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#507 · Core · 45% automatable

Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.

interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment

Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities. Record patient medical histories.

#510 · Core · 39% automatable

Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.

interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment

Measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients. Record patient medical histories.

#508 · Core · 33% automatable

Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.

interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment

Record patient medical histories. Administer intravenous medications.

#511 · Core · 7% automatable

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.

physical manipulation — Basic health care treatments are hands-on patient work

Administer basic health care or medical treatments. Apply bandages, dressings, or splints.

#509 · Core · 72% automatable

Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.

interpersonal — Scripted info delivery, but live rapport and accountability matter

Provide basic information to guests, visitors, or clients. Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information.

#513 · Core · 25% automatable

Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.

interpersonal — Patient care supervision is live clinical leadership

Supervise patient care personnel.

#516 · Core · 54% automatable

Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.

data analysis — Quantitative treatment efficacy analysis; researcher verifies

Analyze quantitative data to determine effectiveness of treatments or therapies. Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.

#514 · Core · 40% automatable

Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions.

interpersonal — Treatment planning collaboration is accountable clinical work

Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.

#515 · Core · 62% automatable

Record food and fluid intake and output.

interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment

Record patient medical histories.

#517 · Core · 18% automatable

Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers.

physical manipulation — Diagnostic instruments applied to patients by hand

Prepare medical supplies or equipment for use. Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment.

#518 · Core · 15% automatable

Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.

physical manipulation — Specimen testing needs lab equipment operation

Test biological specimens to gather information about patient conditions. Collect biological specimens from patients.

#520 · Core · 30% automatable

Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.

physical manipulation — Managing special meal prep is hands-on kitchen work

Manage preparation of special meals or diets.

#512 · Core · 5% automatable

Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking.

physical manipulation — Hands-on hygiene and daily living care

Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities.

#519 · Core · 23% automatable

Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures.

interpersonal — Results delivery needs empathy and clinical judgment

Explain medical procedures or test results to patients or family members. Prepare patients physically for medical procedures.

#521 · Core · 8% automatable

Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles.

physical manipulation — Physical therapy techniques are hands-on body work

Treat patients using physical therapy techniques.

#524 · Supplemental · 18% automatable

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.

interpersonal — Caregiver technique training is live and relational

Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities. Train patients, family members, or caregivers in techniques for managing disabilities or illnesses.

#525 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave.

physical manipulation — Loading and operating sterilizing equipment by hand

Sterilize medical equipment or instruments.

#528 · Supplemental · 65% automatable

Make appointments, keep records, or perform other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics.

data analysis — Facility records need human verification and compliance

Schedule patient procedures or appointments. Maintain medical facility records. Perform clerical work in medical settings.

#529 · Supplemental · 15% automatable

Set up equipment and prepare medical treatment rooms.

physical manipulation — Physical assembly of medical supplies

Prepare medical supplies or equipment for use.

#527 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons.

physical manipulation — Hands-on hygiene and daily living care

Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities.

#522 · Supplemental · 9% automatable

Clean rooms and make beds.

physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of equipment and facilities

Clean medical equipment or facilities.

#523 · Supplemental · 70% automatable

Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments.

data analysis — Medical supply inventory records and thresholds automatable

Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment. Order medical supplies or equipment.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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