ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on machine work done in the service of trajectory managing and shaping. It includes the relationship of machine work to the technical aspects of medical and nursing work. A walk around a relatively large or medically advanced hospital will quickly reveal which sections of the building rely most on machinery. Some sections, departments, and wards are machine-rich while others are relatively machine-sparse. To maximize the safety of machines, many large hospitals employ safety engineers or, indeed, may have safety departments comprised of several experts who are collectively familiar with different kinds of equipment as well as with dangerous chemicals, fire hazards, and the like. Indeed, the greatest difficulty in managing medical equipment probably is keeping it maintained so that it works at maximum efficiency. A few machines used in the hospital are not used with bodies, for example, equipment in the clinical lab that utilizes only body products such as blood and urine.
