About the Author About our authors Jane W. Ball graduated from the Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing, and subsequently received a BS from the Johns Hopkins University. She worked in the surgical, emergency, and outpatient units of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Medical and Surgical Center, first as a staff nurse and then as a pediatric nurse practitioner, beginning her career as a pediatric nurse and advocate for children’s health needs. Jane obtained both a Master of Public Health and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on maternal and child health. After graduation she became the chief of child health services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health. In this capacity she oversaw the state-funded well-child clinics and explored ways to improve education for the state’s community health nurses. After relocating to Texas, she joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing to teach community pediatrics to registered nurses returning to school for a BSN. During this time, she became involved in writing her first textbook, Mosby’s Guide to Physical Examination, which is currently in its 7th edition. After relocating to the Washington, DC, area, she joined Children’s National Medical Center to manage a federal project to teach instructors of emergency medical technicians from all states about the special care children need during an emergency. Exposure to the shortcomings of the emergency medical services system in the late 1980s with regard to pediatric care was a career-changing event. With federal funding, she developed educational curricula for emergency medical technicians and emergency nurses to help them provide improved care for children. A textbook entitled Pediatric Emergencies, A Manual for Prehospital Providers was developed from these educational ventures. For 15 years she managed the federally funded Em