What happened to orderlies?

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Just curious as I have been reading some about the history of professional nursing. Do some hospitals still have orderlies? If so do they differ from cna's? Why do most hospitals not have them? Is this just a situation where the title changed but the job stayed the same?(orderlies started being called cnas's) I read an article about nurse aides being trained as far back as 1945 by the red cross...

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

The Red Cross still conducts nurses aide training at many locations across the US. . .

To answer your question, orderlies are now called by many other names: patient care assistants (PCAs), nursing assistants, and direct care staff. Orderlies never disappeared. Rather, their job titles are now more politically correct to fit in with the changing times.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

I know a hospital that uses orderlies on its ortho surgical unit. Their main duty was to assist people in & out of bed for toileting, going to PT, etc. they would also help with repositioning, straightening beds, stocking linen, being a gopher etc

This was in addition to PCT, not in place of. There was a total of 3, for 37 beds, providing coverage basically 7a-7p, 7 days a week.

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