Test patient nervous system functioning

Little of this can be handed to software today.

This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.

Key facts about this work activity
How automatableBarely automatable
Kind of workPhysical, manual and inspection work
Jobs that do it4 occupations
Tool categories that applyNone
O*NET activityInspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials (4.A.1.b.2)

What this looks like on the job

Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 4 occupations that perform it.

  • Perform physical examinations by taking vital signs, checking neurological reflexes, examining breasts, or performing pelvic examinations.
  • Determine brain death using accepted tests and procedures.
  • Perform electrodiagnosis, including electromyography, nerve conduction studies, or somatosensory evoked potentials of neuromuscular disorders or damage.
  • Conduct tests or studies such as electroencephalography (EEG), polysomnography (PSG), nerve conduction studies (NCS), electromyography (EMG), and intraoperative monitoring (IOM).
  • Perform or interpret the outcomes of procedures or diagnostic tests, such as lumbar punctures, electroencephalography, electromyography, and nerve conduction velocity tests.
  • Conduct tests to determine cerebral death, the absence of brain activity, or the probability of recovery from a coma.
  • Measure visual, auditory, or somatosensory evoked potentials (EPs) to determine responses to stimuli.

What we would actually use

Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.

Our pickBuy nothing

Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.

Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.

Who does this work

4 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.

Work that goes with it

O*NET groups these under “Administer diagnostic tests to assess patient health”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.

Related work activities
ActivityJobs
Test biological specimens to gather information about patient conditions10
Conduct diagnostic tests to determine patient health8
Test patient heart or lung functioning6
Test patient vision5
Administer screening tests to determine abilities or treatment needs4
Test patient hearing3
Administer drug screening tests2

Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.