What is the word for a male, patient attendant?

June 2, 2023 3:53 PM

So, I mean what is the word if let's say at a hospital etc., on the intercom, or in verbal exchange, there is "We need a .... in here ASAP", what word goes in the blank instead of "a patient attendant who is male/someone who can handle heavy patient."
posted by amfgf to Writing & Language (25 answers total)

Best answer: Orderly seems right to me.
posted by Pineapplicious at 3:59 PM on June 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I've heard orderly?
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock at 3:59 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: An attendant who is male is not necessarily going to be able to handle a heavy patient, and an attendant who can handle a heavy patient is not necessarily going to be male. You might want want to specify what type of attendant you mean so that people can give you a specific answer.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:01 PM on June 2, 2023 [32 favorites]

Best answer: Orderly. Down there at the bottom of the hospital food chain, along with the 'Candy Striper' (volunteer nurse) and the custodial staff. It was my friend's first job, and he's an ophthalmologist now. The terms I'm using may be archaic; it's been a long time since I shadowed him on-the-job that day (when I decided a medical career was not for me).
posted by Rash at 4:08 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: Somebody strong.

Seriously, unless this is a very casual hospital, when somebody needs to be moved, regardless of weight, whoever's available needs to pitch in and move them.

Source: comments from a hospital nurse who was often in that position.

This is a really sexist, or strength-ist, question. Specify the functions, training and license of the professional you want, and the specific state and hospital, if you want someone to give you their specific title.
posted by JimN2TAW at 4:08 PM on June 2, 2023 [19 favorites]

Best answer: I spent a lot of time in the hospital with a relative who needed to be moved and transferred while inpatient. I watched the nurses call for assistance multiple times and they never used a specific title and certainly never specified a gender. They usually just asked for someone on the floor. And unsurprisingly, the person that usually arrived was a female patient tech or LPN.
posted by fies at 4:09 PM on June 2, 2023 [13 favorites]

Best answer: "Attention staff; we need assist with a lift and transfer in room 123. Repeat, requesting help with lift and transfer in room 123."

Ask for what you need to do, not the type of person. It's no different than asking for extra hands to carry belongings or help with a procedure.
posted by blnkfrnk at 4:16 PM on June 2, 2023 [55 favorites]

Best answer: Yes, it's just the title. People of all genders get trained to move heavy patients, and know how and when to ask for additional help if it's needed. Just call for the role.
posted by Stacey at 4:52 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: Lift Team Member or Lift Team Technician is the official HR-style job title for this in the United States. Like if you do it and want to be hired somewhere else you look for jobs titled "Lift Team."
posted by holyrood at 4:59 PM on June 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: During COVID peak we had a Prone Team specifically to safely put patients face down.
Also in most circumstances one would use proper lift equipment to decrease risk of injury. Mechanical lift is generic, 'Hoyer' is a common brand.
posted by cobaltnine at 5:08 PM on June 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

Best answer: Agree with all the commenters above re: just calling for assistance or lift assistance, not assuming that a male staff member is going to be better for a lift assist, etc.

As for the terminology, it can vary quite a bit depending on the setting and location, but “orderly” is generally not the term used any more. In places I’ve worked, the person who would come assist with lifts or what have you would usually be called a PCA (patient care assistant) or a tech (or PCT or patient care technician). They could also be an MA (medical assistant), CNA (certified nurse aide/assistant), or a PNA (psychiatric nursing assistant). All of these terms are non-gendered, by design, as people of all genders do these jobs.
posted by bookish at 5:50 PM on June 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: In my last 6 months of being in the hospital, it was just nurses. I am not a big dude, but the nurses always just did the hoisting. So much potential for back injuries...

Nurses are just the best, as they do all the nasty stuff, and the lifting.
posted by Windopaene at 6:10 PM on June 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The patient lifting thing has been covered but there is a legit reason to ask for a nurse of a certain gender and that would be to have a same-gender observer during an exam. But in those cases it would be a specific staff member, since people know who they work with.
posted by fiercekitten at 6:33 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: Transpo was sometimes paged at my hospital to help lift patients. Their primary job function was to transport inpatients to appointments but they also helped lift.
posted by MadMadam at 7:07 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: Tangentially, there are hospital emergency codes that may specify a specific skill set.
posted by oceano at 7:20 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: At the hospital I work at; 'Code armstrong'
posted by oldnumberseven at 9:02 PM on June 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: In my youth, in a different anglophone place, I was a hospital "porter": mostly delivering mail internally but job-descriptioned to heave bodies, trolleys and equipment. Later, in a different country, I was an "orderly" but that was a much more patient-centred nurses-aid role rather than general foot-soldier
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:42 PM on June 2, 2023

Best answer: Nurses and other hospital attendants have a whole litany of lifting methodologies that isn't just 'lift big bag of potatoes', like standing and pivoting, stuff they learn so that even smaller people can manage a large person. A nurse (who genuinely was very strong) showed me and my mom how to handle my 200 lb 6' Dad when his systems deteriorated.

I'm 5'4, mom is 5' (and 75 at the time) and it's amazing, looking back, what we managed to do even when the nurse wasn't there.

The nurse was female, and she was indeed strong.

In any case agree that 'need help with a lift' and focusing on the need rather than the role is right. You might get a nurse, orderly, geriatric specialist, even doctor. Just wanted to make the point that it's not all just brute strength or whoever is least likely to strain their back trying.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:10 AM on June 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks all. I hope everyone is still here. I think orderly is the word because if it's a for a male patient who lives at home, and the family wants to find a male attendant (because the patient does not want opposite gender attendant esp. for getting bathed toileting , etc. which is the case with many people, and is accomodated at hopitals etc.) the family has to make sure they enter the correct word if the options to click on, let's say, are "Orderly", and "Patient Attendant", or whatever else.

JimN2TAW It is not just about strength, eventhough there are taller /more muscled than women than some men.
posted by amfgf at 8:58 AM on June 3, 2023

Best answer: You probably want a home health aide. It’s probably worth looking into getting a lift for home so it’s safer for both the patient and the aide. I haven’t heard orderly outside of hospital contexts and attendant sounds less skilled than what you’re looking for.
posted by momus_window at 9:30 AM on June 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I've been in and around US hospitals and clinics for the better part of two decades and have never heard the term "orderly" in real life. The tasks you describe (assistance with hygiene, dressing, etc) are done by Patient Care Assistants in the hospital and Home Health Aides in the home.
posted by basalganglia at 10:28 AM on June 3, 2023 [6 favorites]

You want a home health aide. You can specify gender if the patient has modesty concerns.

As for mechanical lifts - the battery operated ones come with a spare battery. The one the VA gave my wife needed a battery change about once every two weeks, for twice daily out of bed excursions.

But, especially if cost is an issue, they do make patient lifts that are manual, no electricity needed. They cost about half to two-thirds what the electric ones do.

I can tell you from experience, after lifting my father during his decline, the patient lift was a boon. Not just for less injury to ME, but less to the the patient. Careful as I tried to be, sometimes moving dad hurt him. My wife, only a few years younger than my dad, was never injured or even bruised by the mechanical lift and its sling.
posted by Vigilant at 12:50 PM on June 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Comment from OP removed. Amfgf, please remember that Ask Metafilter isn't for back and forth discussion on a topic, but to get answers to a specific question. It's fine to pop in to clarify if people want or need more info, but otherwise please refrain from replying to the various answers.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 12:59 PM on June 3, 2023

If the care is to be provided at home, rather than at a hospital, the term you want is "Home Health Aide." Usually in the US, Home Health Aides work for an agency, so the patient/family contracts with the agency, and the agency supplies the workers (this is in part for insurance/licenses/background checks, and in part because you want to have backup care if your usual aide is out sick or needs to take leave or if you need extra coverage at a time when they're not available). The agency would evaluate the patient at the time they're beginning care to determine what their needs are, and the patient could express a preference regarding gender that the agency would try their best to honor.
posted by decathecting at 12:31 PM on June 7, 2023

If you need to page for specifically a man for modesty reasons, look on the schedule and pick a man, and page for him personally. "Steve, please report to room 123 for lift and transfer. Steve, please report to room 123 or call extension 456." It might be worth assigning a specific person to this specific patient and working with the scheduling to make sure that a man is available for this patient.

If Steve can't make it, you can at least explain in person or on the phone to whoever shows up/calls that you need a man for modesty reasons, and can keep that off the PA. If you ask for a man over the PA, people will speculate as to the reason why and may complain to you about sexism (even though the complaint is unfounded) and that's uncomfortable, so either ask for the task, or ask for an individual when you're on the PA.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:41 PM on June 23, 2023