Preparing for a Trip to the Hospital?

A guide for kids written by kids

Most kids under the age of eighteen stay in the Pediatrics unit. There, they can eat, sleep, play and rest. Most kids go through Pre-testing and tours to show them what being at the hospital will be like. Sometimes kids have Same Day surgery where they have surgery and go home the same day. In the hospital that we visited, you get to go to the Pediatrics unit even if you go home the same day. Kids stay as long as it takes to get better.

Kids are encouraged to bring their own stuffed animal and pj's so that they feel more at home and comfortable. Do it! It makes a lot of difference.

This unit is for kids only and is very cheerful. They decorate for holidays and have a neat playroom. There are TONS of toys and games there! Also books. Sometimes the hospital brings in visitors to perform for the kids on the unit.

Stuff that will be in your room:

• A Stethoscope
• Blood pressure cuff
• An I.V. [intravenous] stand & I.V.
• Phone & a T.V.!
• A really cool bed that has lots of controls so that you can move the top and bottom-- and the bed itself--up and down.

Most of the time, when you leave Admitting, you will be taken to Pediatrics to get ready for surgery. Your parents will be able to stay with you and help you if you need it. [You probably won't.] Parents can even stay overnight in most hospitals. You will put on the hospital pj's for the surgery because they are specially made so that the doctors can reach the hurt area better. You will be able to change into your own pajamas when you get back to the Children's Unit.

Once you are dressed, the nurse will take your blood pressure. This means that the nurse will put a blood pressure cuff on your arm and pump air into it. This squeezes your arm VERY tightly and then the nurse lets the air out. This tells the nurse your blood pressure and heart rate and if you ask nicely, they just might show you your numbers! They need this information for the anesthesiologist and the surgeon.

At this point, the nurse or anesthesiologist will put the I.V. into your wrist. This will be like the blood test and you will have to make a fist again. It will pinch you for a minute and then you will not feel it. The I.V. is a tube that attaches to a bag that hangs from a stand with wheels [just in case you want to walk around with it.] There is one tube for fluids and sugar because your body needs these and one tube that they use for any medicine you need. The 'Sleepy' medicine that allows you to rest before surgery is put in there.

The nurse will put your wrist in something called 'casting' or a block which is a hard, molded brace that goes under your wrist. Gauze is wrapped around it so that when you wake up in the Recovery room, you don't hurt or pull at the tubing.

You will get on a stretcher with wheels so that you can go to the Operating Room. Your parents can go with you as you get sleepy from the medicine. Do check out the neat elevators for stretchers, though. The giant wall buttons that automatically open the double doors in the halls are cool, too. [We got to push these on our tour!]

After you leave the Children's unit, you will usually be taken to a waiting area. In many hospitals, parents are allowed to go to this area with you. It is going to be very boring there since you will just be waiting on a stretcher. The good part is that many hospitals allow your parents to stay so that you have some company.

During this time, nurses and the anesthesiologist will check on you a lot. They need to know your blood pressure and heart rate and stuff like that. Their job is to make you comfortable and take very good care of you.

When it is your turn to go to the Operating Room, your parents will go to a special waiting room that has nice couches and chairs so that they can wait for you to be done. This room is really close so don't worry about them being far away. At this time, you will probably be a little sleepy from the medicine they are giving you in the I.V. This is normal.

The doctors and nurses will be wearing 'scrubs'. [We really had fun putting them on during our tour!] All of this weird looking stuff protects the doctors, nurses, and you from germs.

The operating room (or O.R.) may seem scary, but it's not when you know that a team of doctors and nurses are nearby. Their job is YOU.

The O.R. has a lot of equipment in it. All of this equipment is used to help the doctors and nurses take care of you. The O.R. has comfy operating tables. We know this because one of us tried one out. It was very comfortable and had something called a gel pad under it that was squishy and so neat.

It looks kind of creepy, but this is because her head is turned away and she has a hair covering on! We think it looks cool!

There are large cabinets filled with towels, medicine, and supplies in them. They have locks on the cabinets that can only be opened by doctors and nurses.

The room is sterile which means that it is very clean. This is so you do not get germs from anyone in the room. The walls and ceilings are also cleaned with the best cleaning wash there is. The doctors and nurses wear masks, gloves, and caps to protect everyone from germs.

The Operating Room is filled with a whole lot of equipment that you won't recognize. Even though it looks like there is stuff everywhere, the doctors and nurses know where everything is and take really good care of you.

When kids get planned surgery, they usually have something called Pre-tests. These tests are done days ahead of actually going to the hospital. There are several kinds of tests done and they depend upon what kind of surgery is planned. There are heart tests to see how your heart is working and chest x-rays that tell doctors all kinds of things about how your lungs are doing.

A urinalysis is where the doctor or nurse asks you to urinate in a cup or container. They will check this for all kinds of things and it sounds gross but it is really necessary. It's easy and private. Doctors and nurses care about how you feel and will show you where to go so that you can do this by yourself.

We left the blood test till last because it can be the most important test and the hardest one, too. The nurse will insert a needle -- usually in your arm -- to take out some blood. You will not miss the blood and will make more to replace it.

You will be asked to ball up your hand into a hard fist. This is so that they can see your veins better because they come closer to the top of your skin when you do this. The nurse might tap on your wrist before he/she inserts the needle. The needle will hurt just a little bit and it feels very much like when you accidentally stick yourself with a safety pin. This stops hurting as soon as the needle is in. They may take out a few tubes of blood. Sometimes people feel better if they don't watch the nurse and sometimes they feel better if they do watch. Do what is best for you.

We saw one hospital pre-test area that had a bunch of make-believe, blood-sucking, paper vampire bats for decoration. This made us laugh. Look around and see if you can find something funny, too. Pre-tests take about a half hour. The waiting around time until you can get into the test areas is usually boring. Take a magazine or something to read.

When your operation is over, you will be taken to a special room called the Recovery Room. You will be asleep from the anesthesia when you arrive and nurses watch over you until you wake. They will call your name and tell you to wake up.

There are a lot of beds in one room. Each bed has a curtain that can be closed around the bed so that you can have privacy when you need it. The nurses can see all the beds from their desk.

You will still have hospital pj's and your incision will be covered. Some operations have special stuff to wear. If you have a tonsillectomy, you get an ice collar to help with the swelling and discomfort. [You get lots of ice cream, too!]

You will not feel much discomfort in the Recovery Room because you still have medication in your body. Doctors and nurses are careful to see that you have medicines for pain and discomfort after surgery, too.

• Warning! Warning! Doctors and nurses need to know when you feel pain. You do not have to be 'brave'! Let them know so that they can give you medication for this!

You will see a wall of machines that watch over you. They are placed in just the right spot for your nurses to read them and take the best care of you.

You will not be able to have any food in here, but they will sometimes give you tiny pieces of ice to suck on once you get back to your bed. They will wheel you back there while you are still sleepy. You might not even remember going back at all but simply wake up there. Your parents will be with you again in the Children's unit.

ThinkQuest Citations and References

Permissions

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Hunterdon Medical Center for allowing us to come in for a tour and to use all of the pictures that we took there [see email permissions].

Special thanks to Mr. Pakutka and Ms. Schmatz for the wonderful tour and letting us try out the scrubs!

References

Electronic Sources
E-Mail Messages

1. Knoell, Donna. knoell.donna@hunterdonhealthcare.org. "hb pics the end" 27 Feb. 2001. Personal email. (27 Feb 2001)

Printed Materials
Entire book

2. Butler, Daphne. The Hospital. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1991.
3. Malam, John. Hospital. Peter Bedrick, 1998.
4. Marsoli, Lisa Ann. Things to Know Before You Go to the Hospital. Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett, 1984.
5. Miller, Marilyn. Behind the Scenes at the Hospital. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1996.
6. Rogers, Fred. Going to the Hospital. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1988.
7. Senior, Kathryn. Medicine: Doctors, Demons & Drugs. New York: Franklin Watts, 1993.
8. VanSteenwyk, Elizabeth. Frontier fever. New York: Walker and Company, 1995.