Job Check
Orderlies
Transport patients to areas such as operating rooms or x-ray rooms using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds. May maintain stocks of supplies or clean and transport equipment. Psychiatric orderlies are included in Psychiatric Aides.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers.Mostly human for now
- 02Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds.Mostly human for now
- 03Disinfect or sterilize equipment or supplies, using germicides or sterilizing equipment.Mostly human for now
- 04Clean equipment, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, or portable medical equipment, documenting needed repairs or maintenance.Mostly human for now
- 05Respond to emergency situations, such as emergency medical calls, security calls, or fire alarms.Mostly human for now
- 06Change soiled linens, such as bed linens, drapes, or cubicle curtains.Mostly human for now
- 07Carry messages or documents between departments.Mostly human for now
- 08Transport portable medical equipment or medical supplies between rooms or departments.Mostly human for now
- 09Clean and sanitize patient rooms, bathrooms, examination rooms, or other patient areas.Mostly human for now
- 10Collect and transport infectious or hazardous waste in closed containers for sterilization or disposal, in accordance with applicable law, standards, or policies.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
0%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 0% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 82% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers.
- Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds.
- Disinfect or sterilize equipment or supplies, using germicides or sterilizing equipment.