Orderlies

Disinfect or sterilize equipment or supplies, using germicides or sterilizing equipment.

AI: Fully automatable - Disinfection and sterilization processes (autoclaves, washer-disinfectors, UV robots) are routinely automated and can execute standard germicidal/sterilizing cycles with digital controls.

Transport specimens, laboratory items, or pharmacy items, ensuring proper documentation and delivery to authorized personnel.

AI: Fully automatable - Pneumatic tube systems, tracked logistics and AMRs combined with digital documentation already enable largely automated, auditable transport of specimens and pharmacy items to authorized recipients.

Separate collected materials for disposal, recycling, or reuse, in accordance with environmental policies.

AI: Fully automatable - Automated sorting systems with computer vision and rules-based policy encoding can reliably separate waste streams in institutional settings by 2025.

Carry messages or documents between departments.

AI: Fully automatable - Digital messaging systems and autonomous couriers/pneumatic tube systems already fully automate the routine transfer of messages and documents between departments.

Take and record vital signs, such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, or respiration rate, as directed by medical or nursing staff.

AI: Fully automatable - Automated vital-sign monitors and wearable sensors can take and record temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration reliably and integrate with records.

Transport portable medical equipment or medical supplies between rooms or departments.

AI: Fully automatable - Autonomous mobile robots and hospital logistics systems are capable of reliably transporting routine portable equipment and supplies between rooms and departments.

Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs.

AI: Fully automatable - Automated call-answering systems, voice assistants, and sensor-based triage can reliably respond to signals and determine basic patient needs for escalation.

Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers.

AI: Partial - Lifting or assisting with lifts demands real-time physical support, judgment and safe manual handling—assistive robotics exist but are not yet a full replacement in typical practice.

Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds.

AI: Partial - As with similar nursing tasks, transporting patients safely requires adaptive physical handling and clinical judgment; partial automation exists but not full autonomous replacement.

Clean equipment, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, or portable medical equipment, documenting needed repairs or maintenance.

AI: Partial - AI and robotics can assist with disinfection and inspection (e.g., UV robots, vision-based checks) but thorough cleaning, nuanced repair judgments, and some manipulations still require human workers.

Respond to emergency situations, such as emergency medical calls, security calls, or fire alarms.

AI: Partial - AI can detect, triage, and alert for emergencies and guide responders, but autonomous physical response to many emergency scenarios still depends on trained human personnel.

Change soiled linens, such as bed linens, drapes, or cubicle curtains.

AI: Partial - Robotic systems can help with some linen-handling tasks, but the variability, dexterity, infection-control nuances, and resident interaction make full automation limited in 2025.

Clean and sanitize patient rooms, bathrooms, examination rooms, or other patient areas.

AI: Partial - UV and autonomous floor-cleaning robots can handle portions of sanitization, but full room cleaning (detailed surfaces, bathrooms, patient-specific tasks) still requires human cleaning staff.

Collect and transport infectious or hazardous waste in closed containers for sterilization or disposal, in accordance with applicable law, standards, or policies.

AI: Partial - Robotic/automated carts can move sealed biohazard containers, but compliant collection, handling nuances, and regulatory accountability generally still require trained humans.

Collect soiled linen or trash.

AI: Partial - Robots can empty standardized bins and move linens/trash in controlled scenarios, but variability, contamination risk, and room-level collection still often need human involvement.

Provide physical support to patients to assist them to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.

AI: Partial - Mechanical aids and robotic assists can partially support transfers and mobility, but safe, empathetic, and fully general physical assistance for diverse patients remains dependent on human caregivers in 2025.

Restrain patients to prevent violence or injury or to assist physicians or nurses to administer treatments.

AI: Partial - AI can detect agitation and alert staff or suggest de-escalation, but fully autonomous physical patient restraint remains ethically, legally, and technically constrained.

Turn or reposition bedridden patients, alone or with assistance, to prevent bedsores.

AI: Partial - Mechanical lifts and automated repositioning beds can assist or perform turns in many cases, but full autonomous safe repositioning for all patients is not yet universal.

Position or hold patients in position for surgical preparation.

AI: Partial - Motorized tables and robotic positioning aids can assist, but precise, sterile, and situational surgical positioning still requires human oversight and intervention.

Stock utility rooms, nonmedical storage rooms, or cleaning carts with supplies.

AI: Partial - Autonomous mobile robots and inventory systems can transport and track supplies, but end-to-end automated stocking of varied rooms and carts is only partially implemented.

Stock or issue medical supplies, such as dressing packs or treatment trays.

AI: Partial - Automated dispensing cabinets and inventory systems can issue and help restock supplies, but full autonomous stocking and handling of all medical supply types is not yet ubiquitous.

Transport bodies to the morgue.

AI: Partial - AI can coordinate and in some contexts move stretchers or autonomous transport devices, but handling and transferring decedents with required dignity and legal safeguards is not fully automated.

Supply, collect, or empty bedpans.

AI: Partial - Automated toileting aids and wash/clean systems exist for parts of the workflow, but reliably supplying, collecting, and emptying bedpans across settings remains only partially automated.

Serve or collect food trays.

AI: Partial - Autonomous mobile robots and delivery systems can handle tray transport in controlled hospital environments but still require human oversight for exceptions, messes, and complex interactions as of 2025.