Administer medications or treatments, such as catheterizations, suppositories, irrigations, enemas, massages, or douches, as directed by a physician or nurse.

“Administer medications or treatments, such as catheterizations, suppositories, irrigations, enemas, massages, or douches, as directed by a physician or nurse.” is a supplemental task performed by Nursing Assistants. Among the occupation's 33 rated tasks, workers place it 11th by importance (#23 most important). About 40% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Administer basic health care or medical treatments. in Assisting and Caring for Others

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Turn or reposition bedridden patients. · importance 4.8
• Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs. · importance 4.7
• Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink. · importance 4.6
• Position or hold patients in position for surgical preparation. · importance 4.6
• Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes to medical or nursing staff. · importance 4.6
• Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses. · importance 4.5
• Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising. · importance 4.5
• Remind patients to take medications or nutritional supplements. · importance 4.5
• Review patients' dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences to ensure patient receives appropriate diet. · importance 4.5
• Undress, wash, and dress patients who are unable to do so for themselves. · importance 4.4
• Observe or examine patients to detect symptoms that may require medical attention, such as bruises, open wounds, or blood in urine. · importance 4.4
• Supply, collect, or empty bedpans. · importance 4.4
• Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers. · importance 4.4
• Communicate with patients to ascertain feelings or need for assistance or social and emotional support. · importance 4.4

See all tasks on the Nursing Assistants page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-19316,
  title  = {Administer medications or treatments, such as catheterizations, suppositories, irrigations, enemas, massages, or douches, as directed by a physician or nurse.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-19316}
}