Tasks

• Administer medications and treatments, such as catheterizations, suppositories, irrigations, enemas, massages, and douches, as directed by a physician or nurse.
• Answer patients' call signals.
• Bathe, groom, shave, dress, and/or drape patients to prepare them for surgery, treatment, or examination.
• Clean rooms and change linens.
• Feed patients who are unable to feed themselves.
• Prepare, serve, and collect food trays.
• Provide patient care by supplying and emptying bed pans, applying dressings and supervising exercise routines.
• Provide patients with help walking, exercising, and moving in and out of bed.
• Transport patients to treatment units, using a wheelchair or stretcher.
• Turn and re-position bedridden patients, alone or with assistance, to prevent bedsores.
• Work as part of a medical team that examines and treats clinic outpatients.
• Answer phones and direct visitors.
• Collect specimens such as urine, feces, or sputum.
• Deliver messages, documents and specimens.
• Explain medical instructions to patients and family members.
• Maintain inventory by storing, preparing, sterilizing, and issuing supplies such as dressing packs and treatment trays.
• Observe patients' conditions, measuring and recording food and liquid intake and output and vital signs, and report changes to professional staff.
• Perform clerical duties such as processing documents and scheduling appointments.
• Restrain patients if necessary.
• Set up equipment such as oxygen tents, portable x-ray machines, and overhead irrigation bottles.