Hospital Helpers jobs and tools: every task explained
Every job in Hospital Helpers is one of five kinds: rub or wrap, put in place, picture cards, choose an answer and search with the ring. Each tool and machine in the hospital uses one of these five. Learn them once, and you can do every job in the game.
The buttons for each move are on the controls page. Where each job comes up is on all 15 stories.
The five kinds of job
Rub or wrap
You move over a picture until it is covered: hand gel on your hands, cream, scan gel, a wrap around a wrist or a plaster. A job like this is done when enough is covered. You do not need to reach every last corner. In the hand gel job the hands fill the picture, and the patches still to rub show as dotted squares.
Good to know (the game does not show these numbers): the very first hand gel, in Ella's story, needs about 60 percent of the hands covered. After that first lesson, the hand gel only needs about half. Wrapping the support around a wrist needs about 85 percent.
Put in place
You drag a thing onto its outline: a thermometer, a finger clip, a repair piece, an organ. It clicks in by itself when it is close enough and turned the right way. If a piece does not click in, it is probably turned wrong: press Turn left or Turn right (Q and R, or LB and RB). Each press turns it a quarter turn. In the Body Lab some jobs hide the outlines until you press Hint.
When there are several pieces, the next free piece is picked for you after one clicks in. Putting a piece down in the wrong place counts as a try, but nothing bad happens. Escape or B puts a piece back down without counting it as a try.
Picture cards
You put three picture cards in the right order, like telling a short story: first what we found, then what we do, then what happens next. Drag a card to its place, or tap the card and then tap its place. The cards start mixed up, never already right. A card in its right place counts as progress, even before the others are right. Sometimes there are four cards, like the four steps for using a puffer, or the apple's trip in the Body Lab.
Choose an answer
You pick one answer. There are two kinds of choices:
- Choices with no wrong answer. What would help the patient feel better, which pattern or which sticker. Every answer is good, and the patient answers the one you picked.
- Choices with one right answer. Which test, what the report shows, who the patient is. A wrong pick never fails you. The game says why it is not right, for example "What are we trying to find out?", and you pick again.
Search with the ring
You move a ring around to find spots: the heartbeat, itchy patches, a splinter on the ultrasound screen. Most spots are hidden. The ring gets bolder the closer you are, like a game of hot and cold. You do not need to press anything: a spot is found as soon as the ring passes over it. In some jobs, like dabbing cream, the spots are already shown and you just visit each one.
Every tool and machine
| Tool or machine | Kind of job | What you do | First used in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand gel | Rub | Rub it all over your hands at the start of each shift | Ella's first checkup |
| Thermometer | Put in place | Hold it by the patient's ear. Then it shows a number, 36.8° | Ella's first checkup |
| Stethoscope | Search | Find both heart spots. One of them is the heart itself | Ella's first checkup |
| Height marker | Put in place | It starts right above the head. Slide it down, and it shows the height: 124 cm, later 129 cm | Ella's first checkup |
| Cool cream | Search (shown) | Dab it on every itchy patch | Sam's itchy mystery |
| Finger clip and arm cuff | Put in place | Put both on their outlines | Mika's sore wrist |
| X-ray machine | Put in place | Line up the arm and the machine, turning the arm | Mika's sore wrist |
| Repair pieces | Put in place | Fit three (later four) pieces into the outline | Mika's sore wrist |
| Support wrap | Wrap | Wrap it around the wrist | Mika's sore wrist |
| Blood test tray | Put in place | Put the Sample tube, Name label and Clean wipe on the tray | Noor's wobbly afternoon |
| Name label | Choose | Pick the label that matches the name band | Noor's wobbly afternoon |
| Tube mail | Put in place | Put the capsule in the tube (turn it first) and send it to the lab | Noor's wobbly afternoon |
| Scan gel | Rub | Spread it before the ultrasound | Leo's stubborn splinter |
| Ultrasound probe | Search | Move it until the hidden thing shows | Leo's stubborn splinter |
| Gripper | Put in place | Guide it to the splinter (turn it first) | Leo's stubborn splinter |
| Plaster | Rub | Press it flat | Leo's stubborn splinter |
| Tiny camera | Search | Look around inside and find the sore part | Ines's tummy puzzle |
| MRI scanner | Picture cards, then search | Get ready in the right order, then move through the pictures to find the spot | Ari's knee mystery |
| Puffer | Picture cards | Put the four steps in order: Shake it, Breathe out, Press once, Breathe in slowly | Sam's night cough |
The first time you finish a step with a new tool, you often get a curiosity card that tells you how the real thing works. All of them are listed on badges, stickers and curiosity cards.
Reading reports and pictures
As the doctor you read what a test found. An expert tells you the result in one sentence, and you pick the picture or card that fits. Read the expert's words carefully, because they hold the answer:
- Jo says "a small break near the wrist": pick the picture with the gap in the bone.
- Nils says "fewer red cells than usual": pick Lower than usual, the line that dips.
- Mei says "just under the skin": pick Close to the top.
- Jo says "no break" about Ari's ankle: pick Picture 1, the whole bone.
The team check
Before every repair in the operating room, the team stops and reads the patient's name band. You pick the right name. This is a real habit in hospitals, so the right patient always gets the right care. In one story the tray even has the wrong name on it, and the team check catches it. See Shifts 2 to 5.
See also
- How a patient story works: roles, rooms and the team.
- Tips for new helpers: what to do when a piece will not click in.
- Your first shift, step by step: the tools in action.
- Glossary: every game word explained.
- Play Hospital Helpers.
