Nobody wants to go to a hospital Going to the hospital usually means you’re really sick Or injured Or in need of surgery Or tests Or treatments And none of those things are much fun Fortunately there are lots of people who want to work at hospitals It’s where they find opportunities to help and heal others It’s also a place where many people find rewarding careers This is very good news When you do go to the hospital as a patient it’s nice to have trained professionals waiting to take care of you This is especially good news for people like Jeremiah Oliver Baumgartner His initials are J O B so his friends call him Job for short Job’s parents think it’s the perfect nickname because um the kid can be a lot of work It’s not that Job tries to cause trouble Disaster just seems to follow him around He is accident prone and as a result makes frequent hospital visits Even though Job is not real he’s here to help you explore the real world of work Tough luck for him but good luck for us Let’s follow Job around the hospital and meet the people who help him and his family out 4 Health Bit Nearly 6 million people work in U S hospitals
Chapter 1 Job Gets His Tonsils Out Whoa Hope he got to eat the popsicle first 5
I need to go to the hospital for a SORE THROAT Most kids get sore throats at one point or another After a few days of rest their throats get better Not Job He would get over one sore throat only to wake up the next day with a new sore throat Not only was he having trouble eating and sleeping but worst of all he sounded like a frog A sick frog His family doctor told him he had tonsillitis and he would need to go to the hospital for an operation I won’t sound like a frog anymore will I Job asked Of course not the doctor answered I know you’re a little scared but don’t worry you toadily won’t croak Ha-ha very punny Job said Before any test treatment or operation a patient has to meet with an admissions representative This person’s job is to gather information from patients and tell them what to expect from their stay at the hospital The representative makes sure patients are who they say they are collects their insurance information for payment and helps fill out lots of paperwork there is always lots of paperwork Then the patient is given an identification bracelet with the patient’s name and information on it 6
The pre-operative Pre-op nurse gets the patient ready for surgery This nurse checks the patient’s vital signs blood pressure and heartbeat and makes that person comfortable The pre-op nurse provides a dressing gown for the patient to wear Then it’s time to start an intravenous line IV which is a needle leading to a tiny tube inserted in the patient’s vein This sends medicine needed for the operation right into the patient’s blood Once everything is ready the pre-op nurse moves the patient to the operating room During an operation an anesthesiologist keeps patients comfy during their surgery Depending on the surgery the patients might stay awake and receive numbing medication so they can’t feel anything Or the patient is put to sleep Either way the patient feels no pain during the operation The anesthesiologist stays with the patient during the entire operation to monitor their care The person with the scalpel is the surgeon This doctor performs operations in order to treat diseases and injuries Surgeons often specialize in certain parts of the body such as the heart the brain the skin or the throat Scalpel please Specially trained nurses assist surgeons during surgery Getting an IV isn’t as scary as it looks 7
