Six question sets for hiring a licensed practical nurse: core, new grad and experienced, long-term care, clinic, phone screen and situational judgment, plus culture fit with a red-flag list and a scoring rubric. Download as DOCX.
The first time I sat in on an LPN interview for a small clinic, the owner asked three questions, liked the candidate, and offered the job in the parking lot. Nobody had checked the license. Nobody had asked what the nurse could and could not legally do in that state. It worked out, but it was luck, and luck is a terrible hiring process when the person you hire will be handing out medications.
At FirstHR, we build for owners and managers who make this hire themselves, without a recruiter and often without a clinical background. These six question sets cover an LPN hire end to end: a core set, new grad versus experienced, long-term care, clinic, phone screen and situational judgment, and culture fit with a red-flag list and a scoring rubric. Each set tells you what a good answer sounds like.
Pair this with the LPN job description you post, so the questions you ask match the job you advertised. If the two do not line up, candidates self-select badly and you spend interviews correcting expectations instead of evaluating skill.
TL;DR
Interview an LPN on clinical judgment, medication safety, scope awareness, and communication. The best single question is what falls outside their scope in your state, because practical nursing is legally defined as care delivered under the direction of an RN or provider. Verify the license before any offer. Median pay is about $64,400 a year.
What an LPN Actually Does
A licensed practical nurse, called a licensed vocational nurse in California and Texas, provides basic nursing care under the direction of registered nurses and physicians. The day-to-day work is vital signs, medication administration, wound care, catheters, comfort measures, charting, and reporting patient changes up the chain. It is hands-on care with a defined boundary around it.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nursing and residential care facilities employ the largest share of LPNs, followed by hospitals, home healthcare services, and physician offices. Entry requires a state-approved practical nursing program, typically about a year, plus passing the national licensing exam and holding a current state license.
Monitoring and basic care
Vital signs and reporting changes
Wound care, catheters, tube feeding
Bathing, dressing, and comfort measures
Medications and treatments
Administering ordered medications
Injections and immunizations
IV therapy where the state allows it
Documentation and reporting
Charting care as it happens
Reporting status to the RN or provider
Incident and error reporting
Working under direction
Carries out the RN or provider plan of care
Escalates changes instead of deciding alone
Often directs CNAs on a hall
That mix matters for your interview. An LPN who spent five years passing medications on a skilled nursing hall has different reflexes than one who roomed patients in a family practice. Neither is better; they are different jobs sharing a license. Ask about the setting they actually worked in, not just the years.
LPN Scope of Practice vs RN Scope
The core legal difference is direction: an LPN practices under the direction of a registered nurse or an authorized provider, while an RN carries independent assessment and care-planning authority. New York defines practical nursing as performing tasks and responsibilities within the framework of casefinding, health teaching, health counseling, and provision of supportive and restorative care under the direction of a registered professional nurse or a licensed physician or other authorized provider.
In practice, the RN usually performs the initial nursing assessment and builds the plan of care, and the LPN carries it out, collects data, administers medications, and reports changes back. The specifics differ by state: IV therapy, delegation to aides, and how much independent judgment an LPN may exercise are all set by state law and board rules, then narrowed further by facility policy.
Responsibility
LPN / LVN
RN
Takes vital signs and provides basic care
Administers ordered medications
Performs the initial nursing assessment
Develops and revises the plan of care
Practices under the direction of another licensee
Scope Is Set by Your State, Not by the Candidate
The boundaries above are the common pattern, not a national rule. Every state nurse practice act draws the line differently, and IV therapy in particular often requires a separate certification. Confirm the specifics with your own state board of nursing before you write the job description, and never let a candidate define their own scope in the interview. This is general information, not legal advice.
Which Question Set Should You Use?
Pick the set that matches your setting and the candidate in front of you. The core clinical questions run through every hire, and the other sets add what the situation needs. Whatever you choose, ask the same questions of every candidate for that role so the scores mean something.
Core LPN Questions
Any setting
The starting set for every LPN hire: shift walkthrough, scope limits, medication process, condition changes, documentation, and privacy, with good-answer notes.
New Grad vs Experienced
By seniority
Two blocks. New graduates get judgment, coachability, and orientation expectations. Experienced LPNs get caseload depth, conflict, precepting, and why they are leaving.
Long-Term Care
Skilled nursing, assisted living
For a hall-sized caseload: medication pass, directing CNAs, falls, dementia care, survey readiness, and family communication.
Clinic and Office
Physician practice
For a small practice: rooming, injections and vaccine storage, phone triage under protocol, refills and prior authorizations, and the EHR.
Phone Screen + Situational
By interview stage
A short screen on license, availability, and pay, then situational judgment questions that show how the nurse thinks under pressure.
Culture, Red Flags, Rubric
Rate and decide
Team-fit questions, a nursing-specific red-flag checklist, a scoring rubric, and the pre-offer license and reference checks.
Match the Set to the Hire
Any LPN hire: start with the Core set. A recent graduate or a nurse with years on the floor: add the seniority set. Skilled nursing or assisted living: add Long-Term Care. A physician office or small practice: add Clinic. Filtering a stack of applicants: use the Phone Screen block first. Deciding between two finalists: use Culture, Red Flags, and the Rubric with any set above.
6 Free LPN Question Sets to Download
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual sets. Each follows the same structure: when to use it, the questions with good-answer notes, what to listen for, and a quick score block. The last set adds the full rubric, the red-flag checklist, and the pre-offer license and reference checks.
Download All 6 LPN Question Sets
Core, new grad and experienced, long-term care, clinic, phone screen and situational judgment, plus culture fit with red flags and a rubric. All in one DOCX.
Set 1: Core LPN Interview Questions
The starting set for any LPN hire in any setting: shift walkthrough, scope limits, medication process, condition changes, documentation, and privacy, each with a note on what a good answer sounds like.
Core LPN Interview Questions
CORE LPN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Practice / Facility: __
Interviewer: __
Date: _
HOW TO USE THIS SET
This is the starting set for any licensed practical nurse hire, in any setting.
Ask 7 to 9 of these questions and use the "good answer" notes to judge clinical
thinking even if you are not a nurse yourself. Ask the same questions of every
candidate for the role, then score with the rubric at the end.
Confirm the license before the interview, not after. Every state board of nursing
publishes an online license verification lookup.
QUESTIONS
1. Walk me through a typical shift in your last nursing role, start to finish.
2. What is in your scope of practice as an LPN in this state, and what is not?
(Good answer: names concrete limits, mentions working under the direction of
an RN or provider, and says it varies by state. A candidate who claims no
limits at all is a problem.)
3. Describe your medication administration process, step by step.
(Good answer: verifies the order, checks the right patient, drug, dose, route
and time, documents immediately, and never pre-pours or signs ahead.)
4. Tell me about a time you caught a medication error or a near miss.
(Good answer: reported it through the proper channel rather than quietly
fixing it. Listen for whether safety beat self-protection.)
5. A patient refuses a scheduled medication. What do you do?
(Good answer: explores the reason, educates, respects refusal, documents it,
and notifies the RN or provider. Never forces or charts it as given.)
6. How do you handle documentation when the shift is busy and you are behind?
(Good answer: charts as close to real time as possible and never charts care
that has not happened yet.)
7. You notice a change in a patient's condition. Walk me through what happens.
(Good answer: reassesses, gathers vitals and objective data, escalates to the
RN or provider promptly, documents, and follows up.)
8. How do you protect patient privacy in a small office where everyone hears
everything?
9. What clinical skills are you strongest in, and which are rusty?
(Good answer: names specifics and is honest about gaps rather than claiming
everything.)
10. Why this setting, and why a smaller employer?
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
•Specific patient stories with real detail, not textbook generalities
•A clear, safety-first medication and documentation process
•Knows the boundary of the LPN scope and escalates instead of guessing
•Comfortable saying "I would ask the RN" without treating it as failure
•Honest about skill gaps and what they still need training on
QUICK SCORE
Clinical judgment [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Medication safety [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Scope awareness [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Communication [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Reliability [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Notes: __
__
Set 2: New Graduate and Experienced LPN Questions
Two blocks in one set. New graduates get judgment, coachability, and orientation expectations. Experienced nurses get caseload depth, conflict with an RN or provider, precepting, and why they are leaving.
New Graduate and Experienced LPN Questions
NEW GRADUATE AND EXPERIENCED LPN QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Practice / Facility: __
Interviewer: __
WHEN TO USE THIS SET
A new graduate LPN and a nurse with a decade on the floor need different
questions. A new grad has no track record, so you test judgment, coachability,
and honesty about limits. An experienced LPN has a record, so you test depth,
autonomy, and why they are leaving. Use the block that matches the candidate,
alongside the core set.
NEW GRADUATE LPN
1. What did your clinical rotations cover, and which setting fit you best?
2. Tell me about the hardest patient you cared for in clinicals.
3. What do you do when you are not sure whether a task is inside your scope?
(Good answer: stops and asks the RN or provider. Certainty here is worse
than caution.)
4. How much orientation and supervision do you expect in your first months?
(Good answer: asks for a real preceptor period and is specific about it.)
5. When did you last receive hard feedback, and what did you do with it?
6. What skills do you most need to build, and how will you build them?
EXPERIENCED LPN
1. What is the most complex caseload you have carried, and how did you organize it?
2. Tell me about a time you disagreed with an RN or provider about a patient.
(Good answer: raised the concern directly, escalated through the chain, and
stayed professional. Not silence, and not a public fight.)
3. Have you precepted or oriented new nurses or aides? Tell me about it.
4. What have you done when a colleague was unsafe or cutting corners?
5. Why are you leaving your current role, and what would keep you here?
6. What would you change about how your last workplace ran, and why?
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
•New grad: coachability, honesty about limits, willingness to ask
•Experienced: depth, autonomy inside scope, calm handling of conflict
•Both: concrete stories with a patient, an action, and an outcome
•A reason for leaving that is about fit, not a pattern of blaming everyone
Set 3: Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Questions
For a hall-sized caseload: the medication pass, directing certified nursing assistants, falls, dementia care, survey readiness, and family communication under pressure. Federal rules for certified long-term care facilities require nursing services on a 24-hour basis and a licensed nurse designated as charge nurse on each tour of duty, so this is a supervisory job as much as a clinical one.
Long-Term Care and Assisted Living LPN Questions
LONG-TERM CARE AND ASSISTED LIVING LPN QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Facility: __
Interviewer: __
WHEN TO USE THIS SET
Nursing and residential care facilities are the largest employer of LPNs, and
the job there looks different from a clinic. The caseload is bigger, the pace is
steadier, and the LPN often runs a hall as charge nurse on an evening or night
shift with certified nursing assistants reporting to them. Federal rules for
Medicare and Medicaid certified long-term care facilities require nursing
services on a 24-hour basis and a licensed nurse designated as charge nurse on
each tour of duty, so this is a real supervisory job, not a task list.
QUESTIONS
1. How many residents have you covered on a shift, and how did you organize the
pass and the rest of the work?
2. Walk me through a medication pass for a full hall.
(Good answer: a repeatable sequence, real time management, and no shortcuts
like pre-pouring or signing before administering.)
3. How do you direct and support CNAs on your hall?
(Good answer: clear assignments, rounds with them, and treats them as
colleagues rather than as an audience.)
4. A resident falls on your shift. Walk me through the next hour.
(Good answer: assess first, do not move without checking, vitals and
neurological checks, notify the RN, provider and family, then incident
documentation and follow-up monitoring.)
5. How do you handle a resident with dementia who is agitated and refusing care?
(Good answer: de-escalation, redirection, identifying the trigger, and
involving the RN. Restraint or force is a hard no.)
6. What is your experience with wound care, catheters, tube feeding, or
end-of-life care?
7. How do you prepare for a state survey, and what have surveyors flagged in
your experience?
(Good answer: treats documentation and infection control as everyday work,
not a scramble before an inspection.)
8. How do you communicate with families who are anxious or unhappy?
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
•Real volume experience: a big hall does not surprise them
•Comfort directing CNAs without turning it into a power struggle
•Assessment-first instincts on falls and condition changes
•Documentation treated as patient safety, not paperwork
•Patience with residents and families under pressure
Family communication [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Notes: __
Set 4: Clinic and Physician Office Questions
For a small practice: rooming and medication reconciliation, injections and vaccine storage, phone triage under protocol, refills and prior authorizations, and the electronic health record.
Clinic and Physician Office LPN Questions
CLINIC AND PHYSICIAN OFFICE LPN QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Practice: __
Interviewer: __
WHEN TO USE THIS SET
In a small clinic or physician office the LPN is often the whole clinical support
team: rooming patients, vitals, injections, phone triage under protocol, refills,
prior authorizations, and the electronic health record. The volume is lower than
long-term care but the variety is wider, and the LPN is frequently the only
licensed nurse in the building. Use this set alongside the core questions.
QUESTIONS
1. Walk me through how you room a patient and prepare the provider.
2. How many patients a day have you supported, and how did you keep up?
3. Describe your injection and immunization experience, including technique and
storage.
(Good answer: knows site selection, sharps handling, and cold-chain storage
for vaccines.)
4. How do you handle a triage phone call from a patient describing chest pain?
(Good answer: recognizes the emergency, directs to emergency care, does not
diagnose, escalates to the provider, and documents the call.)
5. What electronic health record systems have you used, and what did you do in
them?
6. How do you handle refill requests and prior authorizations?
(Good answer: follows standing orders or provider protocol and does not
authorize on their own judgment.)
7. What is your experience with specimen collection, point-of-care testing, and
sterile technique?
8. How do you keep a full waiting room moving without cutting clinical corners?
9. In a small office, the clinical role blurs into the front desk. How do you
handle scheduling, insurance questions, or supplies when they land on you?
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
•Comfort being the only licensed nurse on site
•A protocol-driven approach to triage rather than improvising a diagnosis
•Real, named EHR experience with specific tasks
•Flexibility about non-clinical work without resenting it
•Speed that never comes out of documentation or infection control
QUICK SCORE
Clinic workflow [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Triage judgment [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
EHR proficiency [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Flexibility [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Notes: __
Set 5: Phone Screen and Situational Judgment Questions
A short screen on license, availability, and pay to filter applicants fast, then situational questions that show how the nurse thinks when an order looks wrong or two patients need them at once.
Phone Screen and Situational Judgment Questions
PHONE SCREEN AND SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Practice / Facility: __
Interviewer: __
WHEN TO USE THIS SET
Run the interview in two stages. A short phone screen filters on license,
availability, and setting fit before anyone spends an hour in a room. The on-site
stage is where situational judgment questions do the real work, because they show
how a nurse thinks under pressure rather than what they can recite.
STAGE 1: PHONE SCREEN (10 TO 15 MINUTES)
1. Is your LPN or LVN license active and in good standing in this state?
(Verify it yourself on the state board lookup regardless of the answer.)
2. What shifts and days are you available, and are you open to weekends or call?
3. What settings have you worked in, and what are you looking for now?
4. What are your pay expectations?
5. When could you start, and what notice do you owe your current employer?
6. Do you have current CPR or BLS certification, and any additional
certifications such as IV therapy where the state requires one?
STAGE 2: SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT (ON SITE)
1. You are handed a verbal order you believe is wrong for that patient. What do
you do?
(Good answer: does not administer, clarifies directly with the provider,
escalates if unresolved, and documents. Never "the doctor said so.")
2. Two patients need you at the same time and one is deteriorating. How do you
decide?
(Good answer: assesses acuity, escalates for help, and can explain the
reasoning out loud.)
3. You realize at the end of your shift that you missed a dose. What happens next?
(Good answer: reports it immediately, notifies the RN or provider, follows the
error process, and documents honestly.)
4. A family member asks you for clinical information you are not authorized to
share. What do you say?
5. A CNA tells you something a resident said about another staff member. What do
you do?
(Good answer: takes it seriously and reports it up the chain. This is an
abuse-reporting question in disguise.)
6. You are asked to do something outside the LPN scope because the facility is
short staffed. What do you do?
(Good answer: declines and offers an alternative. A yes here is a red flag,
however cooperative it sounds.)
7. You disagree with how a coworker treats a patient. What do you do?
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
•Patient safety chosen over convenience, speed, or hierarchy
•Escalation described as normal practice, not as tattling
•Honesty about errors, including their own
•Reasoning explained clearly enough for a non-nurse to follow
Team-fit questions for a small staff, a nursing-specific red-flag checklist, a six-area scoring rubric, and the pre-offer checks for license, credentials, and references. Use with any set above.
Culture Fit, Red Flags, and Scoring Rubric
LPN CULTURE FIT, RED FLAGS, AND SCORING RUBRIC
Candidate: __
Practice / Facility: __
Interviewer: __
Date: _
CULTURE AND TEAM FIT QUESTIONS
1. Describe the best team you have worked on. What made it work?
2. How do you like to receive feedback and direction from an RN or a provider?
3. What kind of workplace makes you burn out?
4. We are a small team, so people cover for each other. How does that sit with you?
5. What does compassionate care look like on a bad day, when you are short
staffed and behind?
6. What would your last charge nurse say is your biggest strength, and your
biggest frustration?
7. What questions do you have for us about how this place actually runs?
(Good answer: asks about ratios, orientation, supervision, and support. A
candidate with no questions has not thought about the job.)
RED FLAGS (WEIGH CAREFULLY)
[ ] Cannot describe scope-of-practice limits, or claims there are none
[ ] Would administer a questioned order without clarifying it
[ ] Would take on tasks outside scope to help a short-staffed shift
[ ] Describes charting a medication before administering it
[ ] Blames every past employer, coworker, or patient
[ ] Vague or evasive about license status, gaps, or reasons for leaving
[ ] Talks about identifiable patients in unnecessary detail
[ ] Dismisses documentation as bureaucracy
[ ] No questions at all about supervision, orientation, or support
[ ] License lookup does not match what the candidate told you
SCORING RUBRIC
Score each area from 1 to 5 right after the interview, while it is fresh. Anchor
every score to something the candidate actually said. If more than one person
interviews, score independently first, then compare. Use the same rubric for
every candidate.
5 = Strong, specific evidence 4 = Solid evidence 3 = Some evidence
2 = Weak or mixed evidence 1 = No evidence or red flags
How to Judge Clinical Skill If You Are Not a Nurse
You do not need to grade the clinical content; you need to tell a strong answer from a weak one. The pattern holds across every question: strong nurses give specific patient stories, describe a repeatable safety process, and escalate rather than guess. Weak candidates generalize, promise flexibility where the rules are not flexible, and describe shortcuts.
Describe your medication administration process.
Strong answer: Verifies the order against the chart, confirms the right patient, drug, dose, route, and time, administers, then documents right away. A strong answer also says what they do when something does not match: stop, clarify with the RN or provider, and never assume.
Weak answer: A weak answer skips verification, describes charting before administering, or treats a questionable order as someone else’s responsibility.
A patient refuses a scheduled medication. What do you do?
Strong answer: Asks why, explains the purpose and the risk of skipping it, respects the refusal, documents it accurately, and notifies the RN or provider so the plan can change. Refusal is a communication event, not a failure to be hidden.
Weak answer: A weak answer pressures the patient, hides the refusal, or charts the dose as given. Any version of that is disqualifying.
What is outside your scope as an LPN in this state?
Strong answer: Names concrete limits, mentions working under the direction of an RN or provider, and notes that the rules vary by state and by facility policy. A strong candidate treats the boundary as a safety feature and asks about your protocols.
Weak answer: A weak answer claims there are no real limits, or promises to cover RN-level work when the shift is short staffed.
Two extra signals are worth weighting. First, listen for whether the candidate volunteers the limits of their own role without being pushed. Second, watch what they ask you. A serious nurse asks about ratios, supervision, orientation, and who they escalate to at two in the morning. Silence there usually means they have not pictured the job.
If you can bring one clinical person into a second interview, do it. A charge nurse, a contracted RN, or your medical director can hear things you cannot. The structured interview format matters more than the interviewer's background, though, because it forces the same evidence out of every candidate.
Verify the License Before You Make an Offer
Verify the license yourself on your state board of nursing online lookup, before the offer, every time. Do not accept a photo of a card or a line on a resume. Check that the name and number match, that the status is active and unencumbered, and note the expiration so you can track renewal later.
Verify on the state board lookup
Every state board of nursing publishes an online license verification tool. Check the name, license number, status, and expiration yourself rather than accepting a photo of a card.
Read the disciplinary history
Board records show public disciplinary action. An encumbered or restricted license changes what the nurse can do for you, and you need to know before the offer.
Confirm the extras
CPR or BLS certification, and any additional state credential such as IV therapy certification, where your state requires one for the tasks in the job.
Board records also show public disciplinary action, which is worth reading rather than skimming. Pair the license check with a real reference check that includes a clinical supervisor, and follow your own policy and applicable law on any background check. In a hurry to cover a shift, this is the step people skip, and it is the one that costs the most when it goes wrong. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Red Flags in an LPN Interview
The most serious red flags in a nursing interview are safety related, and they usually surface in situational questions rather than in the resume review. A candidate who would give a questioned order without clarifying it, or who describes signing off a medication before administering it, has told you something no reference check will improve.
Says yes to out-of-scope work
A candidate who offers to cover RN-level tasks when you are short staffed sounds helpful and creates real liability. The right answer declines and offers an alternative.
Charts before administering
Any description of signing off a medication before it is given, or pre-pouring a pass, is a hard stop no matter how experienced the candidate is.
Hides errors
Listen for how they describe a past mistake. Quietly fixing a missed dose instead of reporting it tells you what will happen on your watch.
Vague about the license
Evasiveness about license status, expiration, gaps in employment, or a board action is worth pausing on. Verify on the state board lookup before any offer.
Softer warning signs still matter: blaming every past employer, vagueness about employment gaps, dismissing documentation as bureaucracy, or discussing identifiable patients in unnecessary detail. None of these alone should end an interview, but two or three together are a pattern. The full checklist lives in the sixth set above.
Scoring the Interview
Score each candidate right after the interview, while it is fresh, on the same six areas every time. Anchor each score to something the candidate actually said, so you compare on evidence instead of on whichever conversation felt warmest. The rubric in the sixth set has space for that evidence next to each rating.
Scoring area
What a 5 looks like
Clinical judgment
Assesses first, prioritizes by acuity, escalates without hesitating
Medication safety
Verifies every time, reports errors, never charts ahead
Scope awareness
Names concrete limits and works inside them
Setting fit
Real experience in long-term care, clinic, or home health as needed
Communication
Clear with patients, families, CNAs, RNs, and providers
Reliability and team fit
Dependable coverage and a steady attitude on a bad day
If more than one person interviews, each scores independently before comparing notes. Using a shared evaluation form keeps the conversation on evidence, and a clean interview feedback step means the decision is documented rather than remembered.
LPN Pay
LPN pay varies by setting, shift, experience, and local market. Use federal survey data as your baseline, then adjust for what your area actually pays to fill an evening or weekend shift.
Median Around $64,400 a Year
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses held 648,410 jobs nationally at a median hourly wage of $30.96, about $64,400 a year at 2,080 hours (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). BLS projects employment in the occupation to grow about 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, with roughly 54,400 openings each year on average over the decade.
Budget above the base wage for shift differentials on evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays, plus payroll taxes, benefits, and the overtime that nursing schedules generate. Long-term care, home health, and clinic roles pay differently within the same metro area, and rural employers often pay a premium simply to fill the shift. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider, so pair it with your payroll system when you set the rate.
Hiring an LPN as a Small Employer
A hospital system hires LPNs through a nurse recruiter, a credentialing office, and a talent pipeline. A small clinic or residential facility hires through the owner or the office manager, between patients, with an open shift already bleeding overtime. That reality shapes what a good process looks like at your size.
You are hiring a nurse and you are not a nurse
Plenty of small practices, home care agencies, and residential facilities are run by an owner or an office manager who is not clinically trained. That makes the interview feel unwinnable: how do you grade an answer about a medication pass? You do not have to. Each core question in this kit comes with a note on what a good answer sounds like, and the pattern is consistent across all of them. Strong nurses give specific patient stories, describe a repeatable safety process, and escalate rather than guess. Weak candidates speak in generalities and promise flexibility where the rules are not flexible. If you can bring one clinical person into the second interview, do it, but the rubric works without one.
Scope of practice is the whole ballgame, and it is state law
The single most useful filter in an LPN interview is whether the candidate can describe their own limits. Practical nursing is defined by each state as care delivered under the direction of a registered nurse or an authorized provider, and the details differ: IV therapy, delegation, and assessment authority all vary. A candidate who says the boundary depends on the state and the facility protocol is showing you they read the rules. A candidate who says they can handle anything is telling you they will absorb work that belongs to an RN, which is exactly how a small employer ends up with a survey citation or worse.
You are competing on speed, not on brand
Small employers rarely win a nursing hire on pay alone. What you can win on is speed and clarity: a same-week phone screen, one on-site interview instead of four rounds, a clear answer on shifts and orientation, and an offer within days rather than weeks. Decide before you post what the schedule, supervision, and orientation period actually are, so you can answer those questions in the room. After the offer, the work shifts to onboarding, and that is where FirstHR fits: e-signature for the offer, document management for the license and certification copies, and task workflows for orientation and policy sign-off. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Setting
What the LPN role looks like
What to probe hardest
Skilled nursing / assisted living
Hall caseload, medication pass, often charge nurse on a shift
Solo visits, wound care, patient and family teaching
Independent judgment, escalation, driving and scheduling
Correctional or school setting
Standing orders, limited resources, mixed acuity
Autonomy, boundaries, de-escalation
The simplest rule: hire for the setting, not the credential. Two candidates with identical licenses can be a strong hire and a bad one depending on whether your job is a hall of residents or a fifteen-minute clinic cycle. Ask the setting questions and weigh the answers heavily.
From Interview to Onboarding
The interview is step one. Once you choose a nurse, clinical onboarding carries extra weight because credentials expire and surveys ask for proof: a signed offer with the shift and orientation spelled out, license and certification copies on file with renewal dates, HIPAA and infection control training, charting access, and the standard I-9 and W-4 alongside the rest of the new-hire paperwork.
Send the offer in writing
Confirm the title, shift, pay, supervision, and orientation period in a signed offer, so nothing about the schedule is a surprise in week one.
Collect and file credentials
License number and expiration, CPR or BLS card, and any state-required certification, stored where you can find them before the next survey or audit.
Set up access and training
EHR or charting access, HIPAA training, infection control, and facility policies assigned as tasks with due dates during orientation.
Keep the paperwork organized
Signed offer, I-9, W-4, policy acknowledgments, and credential copies in one place with renewal dates you can actually track.
An onboarding template gives the new nurse a structured first weeks instead of a shadowing shift and a shrug. FirstHR connects the signed offer, the credential files, the training modules, and the orientation checklist in one place, so a small employer can onboard a licensed hire without a credentialing department. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider or a clinical charting system, so connect those separately. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Key Takeaways
Interview an LPN on clinical judgment, medication safety, scope awareness, and communication.
The best single question is what falls outside their scope in your state; a candidate who claims no limits is a warning sign.
Practical nursing is legally defined as care under the direction of an RN or an authorized provider, with the details set state by state.
Verify the license and disciplinary history on the state board lookup before you make an offer, every time.
Match the question set to the setting: long-term care and a clinic are different jobs sharing a license.
Use BLS as your pay baseline: a national median around $64,400 a year, then adjust for shift differentials and your local market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should I ask when interviewing an LPN?
Ask questions that test clinical judgment, medication safety, scope awareness, and communication. Strong core questions include: walk me through a typical shift; what is inside your scope of practice as an LPN in this state and what is not; describe your medication administration process step by step; tell me about a time you caught a medication error or a near miss; a patient refuses a scheduled medication, what do you do; and you notice a change in a patient’s condition, walk me through what happens. Add setting-specific questions for long-term care or a clinic, and finish with situational judgment questions about questionable orders, competing priorities, and short-staffed shifts. This page includes six ready-to-use sets plus a red-flag list and a scoring rubric, each with notes on what a good answer sounds like.
What is the difference between an LPN and an RN?
An LPN provides nursing care under the direction of a registered nurse or an authorized provider, while an RN carries independent assessment and care-planning authority. New York, for example, defines practical nursing as performing tasks and responsibilities within the framework of casefinding, health teaching, health counseling, and provision of supportive and restorative care under the direction of a registered professional nurse or a licensed provider. In practice that means the RN usually performs the initial nursing assessment and develops the plan of care, and the LPN carries it out, collects data, administers medications, and reports changes back. Education differs too: practical nursing programs are typically about a year, while registered nursing requires an associate or bachelor degree. The exact boundary is set by each state, so check your own state board. This is general information, not legal advice.
How do I evaluate an LPN if I am not a nurse myself?
You do not need to grade the clinical content; you need to tell a strong answer from a weak one. Each core question in this kit comes with a note on what a good answer sounds like, and the pattern is consistent. Strong candidates give specific patient stories with an action and an outcome, describe a repeatable medication and documentation process, and escalate to the RN or provider instead of guessing. Weak candidates speak in generalities, promise to cover anything you need, or describe shortcuts such as charting before administering. Ask the question, listen against the notes, and score it right after the interview. If you can bring a clinical person into a second interview, do it, but the rubric on this page works without one.
How do I verify an LPN license?
Verify the license yourself on the state board of nursing online lookup before you make an offer, rather than accepting a photocopy or a photo of a card. Check that the name and license number match the candidate, that the status is active and unencumbered, and note the expiration date so you can track renewal. Board records also show public disciplinary action, which is worth reading before you decide. Confirm any additional credentials the job requires, such as current CPR or BLS certification and, in states that require it, an IV therapy certification. Put license verification in your pre-offer checklist alongside reference checks so it never gets skipped in a rush to fill a shift. Rules on background screening vary, so follow applicable federal and state law.
What are the biggest red flags in an LPN interview?
The most serious red flags are safety related. Watch for a candidate who would administer an order they believe is wrong without clarifying it, who describes charting or signing off a medication before giving it, who volunteers to take on RN-level tasks when a shift is short staffed, or who describes quietly fixing an error rather than reporting it. Softer warning signs include blaming every previous employer, vagueness about license status or employment gaps, dismissing documentation as bureaucracy, discussing identifiable patients in unnecessary detail, and having no questions about supervision, orientation, or staffing. Any mismatch between what the candidate says and what the state board lookup shows deserves a direct conversation before you go further.
What does an LPN do in a long-term care facility versus a clinic?
In long-term care the LPN typically covers a hall with a large resident caseload, runs the medication pass, performs wound care and treatments, directs certified nursing assistants, and often serves as charge nurse on an evening or night shift. Federal requirements for Medicare and Medicaid certified long-term care facilities include nursing services on a 24-hour basis and a licensed nurse designated as charge nurse on each tour of duty. In a clinic or physician office the caseload is smaller but the variety is wider: rooming patients, vitals and medication reconciliation, injections and immunizations, phone triage under provider protocol, refills and prior authorizations, specimen collection, and the electronic health record. The LPN is often the only licensed nurse in a small office. This page includes a dedicated question set for each setting.
How much does an LPN cost to hire?
LPN pay varies by setting, shift, experience, and local market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had a median hourly wage of $30.96, about $64,400 a year at full-time hours. Budget on top of the base wage for differentials on evening, night, weekend, and holiday shifts, plus payroll taxes, benefits, and overtime coverage, since nursing schedules rarely fit neatly into a standard week. Long-term care, home health, and clinic settings pay differently in the same metro area, and rural markets often pay a premium to fill a shift at all. Benchmark against your local market rather than the national figure, and decide before you post what your top of range is. This is general information, not financial advice.
Are these LPN interview questions legal to ask?
Yes. Questions about clinical experience, license status, scope of practice, availability for shifts, and how a candidate would handle a specific patient situation are job-related and permitted. The legal caution is general to all interviewing: avoid questions that touch protected characteristics such as age, race, religion, national origin, disability, pregnancy, or family status. Ask about the ability to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation rather than about health or medical history. Use the same structured questions and the same scorecard for every candidate, which is itself a safeguard because it shows you evaluated everyone on the same job-related criteria. For specifics, consult EEOC guidance or a qualified employment attorney. This is general information, not legal advice.
