Did you know that dogs help sooth the stress of doctors and nurses in some hospitals? If you are an animal lover and/or owner, you probably already know how comforting a dog can be, including times of stress. We have seen how animal therapy has been used to calm some hospital patients, how effective it is. Nowadays, animal therapy is extended to doctors and nurses. These amazing workers are under a lot of stress, especially those working in the hospital emergency room. Are you curious where animal therapy is used in this crew? Read below.
Related: 7 Awesome Therapy Dogs That Love to Help You!
Animal Therapy for nurses and doctors
Some hospitals are now offering animal therapy remedies in the workplace. One of those hospitals is Rush University Medical Center, located in Chicago, Illinois. The hospital provides its staff personnel with an area for animal therapy sessions, mainly utilizing dogs. However, Rush University Medical Center has even employed the use of miniature horses to reduce stress in staff personnel.
However, while you may see some companies and businesses use various types of animals to help with employee morale, Rush University Medical Center has a different twist on the idea. For more than a year now, the hospital holds monthly sessions called Pet Pause, bringing in dogs from area animal shelters.
Related: Therapy Dog Training
Another hospital that uses animal therapy for its staff is the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. The hospital offers doctors and nurses that work in the emergency room, the opportunity to spend their lunch hour relaxing and playing with dogs from the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Their program is called Pet A Pooch and was launched in the summer of 2014, after one of its nurses, Heather Matthew, realized that went she went home to her dog, Annabelle, after a long day at work, she felt she could properly unwind.
The website www.helpguide.org shows the ways that dogs are able to improve a person’s health as well as mood. According to the website, dogs have their own special way of interpreting a person’s tone of voice, gestures and body language, meaning they can tell when a person is stressed. The American Heart Association has conducted studies that show that animals, especially dogs, cannot only reduce the risk of heart disease but can help people live longer too.
