Glossary
Orderly Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential orderly terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key orderly vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in orderly training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Biohazard
- Infectious material.
- Code
- Emergency alert.
- Discharge
- Leaving the hospital.
- Fall risk
- Higher chance of falling.
- Hand hygiene
- Hand cleaning.
- Isolation
- Precautions for contagious patients.
- Linen
- Bed sheets and towels.
- Patient lift
- Device that lifts patients.
- PPE
- Protective equipment.
- Safe patient handling
- Lifting methods that prevent injury.
- Specimen
- Sample for testing.
- STAT
- Immediately.
- Stretcher
- Wheeled bed.
- Transport
- Moving a patient.
- Turning schedule
- Repositioning plan.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Orderly practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Orderly training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.