"This has been the dream of the Relationship Focused Care Council for a long time," said Tina Maher, BSN, MA, RN, NE-BC, of the Relationship Focused Care Council at Chester County Hospital, as she detailed the new Pet Therapy initiative the council initiated for hospital inpatients.
The Relationship Focused Care Council focus on the therapeutic relationships with patients and families, peers and the care givers. Major activities for the council have included implementation of several complimentary therapies including Reiki, Aromatherapy and now, Pet Therapy. The council also hosted a one-day seminar for staff, "See Me as a Person", with co-author Mary Koloroutis as guest speaker.
Countless studies have confirmed that the use of animal-assisted therapy reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, lessens the level of stress-producing hormones, decreases anxiety, promotes a sense of well-being and lowers the rate of depression making this the perfect fit for the council to implement next.
Certified therapy dogs are onsite three days a week visiting patient wings. Visits with the dogs will last five to ten minutes per patient. Patients interested in having the therapy dogs in for a visit can communicate this with their nurse and if eligible, will be included in the dogs' rounds.
The dogs will be at the hospital on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays beginning in August of 2016. They will make their rounds in the hospital's West Wing Ground, West Wing I and West Wing II, Lasko Tower Three and Four and Three and Four North, Pediatrics and the Post Interventional Care Unit.
The new Pet Therapy initiative comes on the heels of Hug A Pup. Hug A Pup was initiated by Annmarie Blair, DNP, MSN, BSN, RN, as part of her Capstone research for her Doctor of Nurse Practice program at West Chester University. Blair's project was to answer the question, "Does animal-assisted therapy decrease the rate of depression for patients attending outpatient cardiac rehabilitation versus patients who attend the same program without the use of it?" Blair was successful in her research and received her Doctor of Nurse Practice in early August.
For the purpose of Blair's study, Hug A Pup days were held at Cardiac Rehabilitation for three months with hopes of making it an ongoing initiative. "It's such a morale booster for patients. Seeing people's expressions and having people thank me... I just get such a reward out of it," said Blair, who is also a member of the Relationship Focused Care Council.
Patients in the Cardiac Rehab program had access to the dogs two days a week. Cardiac Rehab patient William Burch felt that the program was, "The best thing the hospital has ever offered to patients. Dogs make everyone feel good!"
The Relationship Focused Care Council and Blair are quick to credit the success of these programs to the support they've received from the hospital and most importantly, the volunteers who share their dogs weekly. One volunteer, Deb Ellis, has ties to the hospital. Ellis' parents were both in hospice care and she was so grateful for the quality of care her parents received that she wanted to give back. Ellis now brings Buttons, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, to the hospital on a regular basis as part of the Pet Therapy initiative.
All therapy dogs in the program have completed initial and annual trainings and are licensed from Therapy Dogs International. The dogs are also required to receive annual vaccinations and health screenings, annual behavior evaluations, be bathed prior to visit and remain leashed for duration of the visit and must be identified as a therapy dog.
About Chester County Hospital
Chester County Hospital is an organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the people in Chester County and surrounding areas. Founded in 1892, the non-profit hospital has grown into a 243-bed acute care facility based in West Chester, plus it has a system of outpatient locations in Exton, West Goshen, New Garden, Jennersville, West Grove and Kennett Square. In 2013, Chester County Hospital became part of Penn Medicine that consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise. In addition to quality-driven inpatient medical/surgical services, Chester County Hospital also offers home health, hospice and skilled nursing care; occupational medicine; outpatient laboratory, radiology and physical therapy services; an ob/gyn clinic for the underserved; wound care; and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.