---
title: "Will AI Replace Licensed Practical Nurses?"
description: "BLS rates licensed practical nurses' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+3.0%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-licensed-practical-nurses"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Licensed Practical Nurses? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates licensed practical nurses among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places licensed practical nurses in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +3.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 51,800 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 46/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +3.0% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 51,800 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $64,400 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Assisting and caring for others: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Resolving conflicts and negotiating with others: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
- Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
- 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.
- Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
- Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.
- Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Paramedic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paramedic): BLS exposure Low, median $60,600; [Will AI replace paramedics?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-paramedics)
- [Surgical Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-technologist): BLS exposure Low, median $64,650; [Will AI replace surgical technologists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-surgical-technologists)
- [Respiratory Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/respiratory-therapist): BLS exposure Low, median $82,280; [Will AI replace respiratory therapists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-respiratory-therapists)
- [Dental Hygienist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-hygienist): BLS exposure Low, median $98,100; [Will AI replace dental hygienists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-dental-hygienists)
- [Nursing Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nursing-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $42,260; [Will AI replace nursing assistants?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-nursing-assistants)
- [Anesthesiologist Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/anesthesiologist-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $135,880

## FAQ

**Will AI replace licensed practical nurses?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates licensed practical nurses among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +3.0% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 51,800 openings a year.

**How exposed are licensed practical nurses to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Licensed Practical Nurses are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a licensed practical nurse's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, processing information and repeating the same tasks. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, face-to-face discussions and resolving conflicts and negotiating with others. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a licensed practical nurse a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, licensed practical nurses score 46 out of 100, higher than 53% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $64,400 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to licensed practical nurses are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median), Surgical Technologist (low exposure, $64,650 median), Respiratory Therapist (low exposure, $82,280 median), Dental Hygienist (low exposure, $98,100 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/licensed-practical-nurse.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology