Arthur's Guide to Children's Hospital Boston

Arthur's Guide to Children's Hospital Boston was an interactive feature of the Boston Children's Hospital's Web site. It was made available in 2005 and taken down in either 2012 or 2013. The purpose of this page is to reconstruct the website now that it has been taken down.

Welcome to Arthur's Guide to Children's Hospital Boston
I'm Arthur and these are some of my friends. We visited Children's Hospital Boston with our school. Mr. Ratburn made us write reports, so it's a good thing there was so much cool stuff to write about!

Read our reports to find out what it's like to come in for a doctor visit, a pre-op visit or a hospital stay. We came up with some great games and other fun stuff, too. So dig in!

Page 1
In our report, you'll find out everything you need to know about coming to the hospital for a doctor's appointment. (They also call this an outpatient visit.)

We took lots of photos as we walked around, so just click on any of the links you see to check out our stuff. We're in all the pictures! Francine discovers an awesome sports exhibit

People usually come into the main lobby and go to the front desk for directions. But if you already know where you're going, you can head right to your appointment and check in at the clinic.

Keep your eyes open as you walk to your appointment. There's lots of cool stuff to see, like fish tanks, gift shops, and groovy pieces of art.

Page 2
You'll see lots of people who work here, like doctors and nurses. We know that's not a big surprise, but there are so many KINDS of doctors and nurses, and so many other people with special jobs!

There are pediatricians and radiologists and even anesthesiologists! (We hope you never have to spell any of these. Even The Brain can't do that last one without a dictionary.) The cool MRI machine, which can see inside of you!

There are physical therapists and speech therapists. There are social workers and child life specialists. There are people who test your blood and people who put casts on broken arms and legs.

And then there's a whole team of people who make sure the hospital is always super clean!

Buster also found out what food you can get here before or after your doctor's appointment (if it's OK with your doctor and your parents!). He said that a real journalist should investigate, so he made sure he tested every piece of food he could find. Luckily, a nutritionist helped him to be sure he was testing healthy (and tasty) stuff.

Pre-Op Visit
If you're going to have an operation, you'll probably have a separate appointment beforehand to help you and your doctors get ready. This appointment is called a pre-operative visit (pre-op visit for short). A kid getting ready for a hospital visit at Pre-Op

Most pre-op visits happen in the Pre-Op Clinic. The staff there will talk to you and your parents about what you can expect before, during, and after your procedure. You might also need to go to the Blood Lab for some basic tests.

During your pre-op visit, you'll meet some of the doctors and nurses who will be taking care of you when you come back for your operation. (One of the doctors will probably be an anesthesiologist, who will give you medicine to help you sleep through your whole surgery!) You'll also have a chance to talk with a child life specialist about your upcoming visit and how to prepare for it.

Our classmates have written a couple of reports about what your visit might be like when you return to the hospital for your operation. If you'll only need to be here for one day, check out what Arthur and Buster wrote about a doctor visit. If you'll be staying overnight, look at what Muffy and Binky wrote about a hospital stay.

If you want to find out more about the Pre-Op Clinic, you can check out this cool video tour! Francine's and The Brain's signatures

And that's our Field Trip Report. It's nice and short ... and, of course, very well researched!

Page 1
Coming to the hospital for an overnight stay? Our report will tell you what to expect.

Children's Hospital Boston is a great place for kids. Everyone here is really helpful, and they work very hard to make your stay the best it can be. You can tell right away when you walk into the main lobby and look around ... this place loves kids! Arthur and Buster at the Patient Entertainment Center

While you're here, you'll stay in a room with a cool remote-control bed! There are lots of places to play, like the activity rooms and the Patient Entertainment Center. You can even borrow games and books from the Center for Families.

I'm also very happy to report that there are LOTS of places to buy stuff. I don't understand why, but Binky was less excited about shopping and more excited about the funky garden that sits in the middle of all the hospital buildings.

After shopping and exploring the garden, Binky and I were starving, but we couldn't agree on where to eat lunch. Luckily, there are lots of great places to eat, so we each got exactly what we wanted.

Page 2
This place is filled with doctors and nurses and all kinds of people who are specially trained to help you. There are nutritionists, radiologists...actually, there are a lot of "ists" working here. A surgeon wearing clothes called scrubs

If you're having surgery (also called an "operation"), you'll meet an anesthesiologist, who will give you medicine to help you sleep through the whole thing. When you wake up afterward, you'll be all set up in the recovery room!

Wait...I just realized there are more "ists." (Wow...it's like an "ist" convention here.) There are also speech therapists, physical therapists, and child life specialists. And some people here specialize in checking your blood. The Brain told us that these people are called... can you guess?... phlebotomISTS.

People to Meet
We made a list of everyone we met during our field trip to Children's Hospital Boston. Click on the links below to meet them yourself and learn what they do here.

Remember that you probably won't meet all of these people during your visit. To find out whom you are most likely to meet, read the school report about your type of visit (Doctor Visit, Pre-Op Visit, or Hospital Stay).

Anesthesiologist Child Life Specialist Clinical Assistant Clown Doctor Housekeeping Staff Nurse Nutritionist Pawprints Physical Therapist Social Worker Speech Therapist Surgeon

Places and Things
A hospital can feel like a big place if you don't know your way around. So we checked out as many places as we could during our tour. Click on the links below to see what we found.

Remember that you probably won't see all of these places during your visit. To find out what you are most likely to see, read the school report about your type of visit (Doctor Visit, Pre-Op Visit, or Hospital Stay).

Activity Rooms Blood Lab Cast Room Center for Families Look Around You Main Lobby Nurses' Station Patient Entertainment Center Patient Rooms Places to Buy Stuff Places to Eat Places to Wait Prouty Garden Radiology Recovery (PACU)

Games and More
Here are some cool activities to do before, during, and even after your visit to the hospital.

Button for scavenger hunt feature Arthur's Scavenger Hunt

Button for packing list feature Packing List

Button for ARTHUR Web site Arthur's Web Site at PBS Kids Go!

Button for waiting games Buster's Waiting Games

Packing List Email A Friend

Button for Buster's Web site Buster's Web Site at PBS Kids Go!

Parents' Page
Arthur's Guide to Children's Hospital Boston has been created to help you and your child prepare for a visit to the hospital. The guide covers three types of visits: Arthur and his friends are inside the hospital

Doctor Visit

Pre-Op Visit

Hospital Stay

Using the popular ARTHUR characters from the Marc Brown books and the PBS television series, the guide describes hospital experiences in simple terms. The goal of the guide is to answer some of your child's questions about coming to the hospital and to help prepare both you and your child for the visit. While many children will be able to surf this site independently, it is highly recommended that you and your child explore this guide together.

And here's a tip: Reading is a great way to familiarize children with new concepts. Check out our Recommended Books for some suggested reading that you and your child can enjoy together.

For information geared toward grown-ups, you can visit the main Children's Hospital Boston Web site. That's where you can find general information about the hospital (such as parking and directions), as well as a rich variety of resources about each department and specialty.

This site was produced by WGBH Interactive, the producers of the PBS Web sites for both ARTHUR and POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER.