Embracing Connections

As the number of patients admitted with COVID-19 began to decrease, issues in the mental health of patients and staff were revealed. This was a problem that the brave dogs of our Pet Assisted Wellness (PAWS) program were ready to handle. The PAWS program has been in place at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital for 10 years. The development of this program and presence of the dogs was the result of a collaboration between nursing and physician leadership, and the PAWS volunteers. Liz Plein, the coordinator for the dog volunteers, worked with nursing Child Life Director, Dinah Evans, and volunteer services to coordinate the dog visits to the units. In order to ensure the visits would be beneficial to the patients, a patient eligibility sheet was created to see if a dog visiting a patient would be appropriate. For those patients where a visit was appropriate, a green paw print sign would be placed on the patient room door. Additionally, the green paw has been used by leadership so that the dogs would be able to visit them as well. In an innovative approach to bedtime, the dogs were included in a program called “Tuck ‘Em In.” In this program, the dog handler would read a bedtime story to the pediatric patients with the handler’s dog also dressed in jammies.

The success of these programs has led to the growth of this service, with the expansion to the Loma Linda University Medical Center, and the involvement of pet therapists at hospital events. At East Campus, dog volunteers are now a commonplace occurrence where nurses can see their pet therapists walking through the halls, their tails wagging, ready to bring joy. As part of the 2022 Nurse’s Week, one of the main attractions for the Medical Center and Children’s Hospital was having dog visits specifically focused on nursing staff. The idea to focus on the nursing staff came about when the Nursing Projects Manager, Priscilla Santos, DNP, BSN, RN, and Marketing Specialist, Monica Arreola, MBA, were brainstorming Nurse’s Week activities. During this session they remembered when an Irish Wolfhound, one of the hospital’s pet therapists, had come out of the elevator and leaned on them. The thought was, “If this makes me feel relaxed when I’m stressed, imagine the effect this might have on all the nurses right now.” As a result, plans to provide opportunities for pet therapy for our nursing staff were developed and implemented for all nursing units during Nurses Week. As the pet therapists made their rounds on the units, the look on the nurses’ faces when the dogs came was beyond words. The love shown to the staff and by the staff in relation to these happy dogs was beautiful. We look forward to seeing how we can further partner with our canine healthcare providers to reduce staff stress and improve morale.