Orderlies

Overview

Orderlies has a national median salary of $38,290 per year, with +4% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

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.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• 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.
• Clean equipment, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, or portable medical equipment, documenting needed repairs or maintenance.
• Respond to emergency situations, such as emergency medical calls, security calls, or fire alarms.

Work Activities

• Assisting and Caring for Others
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Detailed Work Activities

• Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a bachelor's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Bachelor's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Orderlies:

Video Resources