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pet visits are good medicinePatricia Carroll, RN,BC, CEN, RRT, MS
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Oh,
how I remember the days when people were forced
to lie about their relationship with a patient
in intensive care to meet the visiting criteria
of “immediate family only.”
We nurses often winked and nodded at the
variety of “family” who came by because we
saw the therapeutic benefit of their visits.
Today, we have a much greater understanding that
there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all”
definition of family. I
will also confess that, on more than one
occasion in my career, I have smuggled a dog
into the room of a critically ill patient
because for many patients, pets are family, too
(sometimes, preferred to human relations!) Nurses Take The Lead Fortunately,
we no longer have to smuggle pets into critical
care areas. Nurses have taken the lead on behalf
of patients and their families to work with
other members of the health care team and
develop policies and procedures that allow
family pets to visit patients in intensive care. Why pets? The closest emotional relationship in many people’s lives is with their pet. Pets are nonjudgmental and filled with plenty of unconditional love, which they freely share. As nurses, we are very tuned in to meeting patients’ emotional needs as well as their physical needs. When people are separated from their pet because of hospitalization, the patient’s loneliness and anxiety about how the pet is doing without them can slow their recovery. (Note: Pet visits to patients in intensive care are not the same as animal-assisted therapy (AAT), in which dogs are screened and specially trained for their role in visiting patients --not just their owners-- in all parts of the hospital. For more information on AAT, visit the Delta Society)And It’s Good For You, Too! Patients gain many benefits from pet visits. For years, research has demonstrated that pet ownership helps people with heart disease live longer and helps people recover from bouts of serious depression. Nursing research has shown that while interacting with unknown pets has benefits, interacting with a companion dog with whom a bond exists results in even greater health benefits. In the intensive care setting, we look for shorter-term benefits. These include:
But what if your loved one is in a hospital that won’t allow a pet visit? First, open a dialogue with the nurses to find out why they turned down your request. Not all patients are candidates for a pet visit. If a patient has an open wound, for example, no pets are allowed. If the patient’s immunity is very low, a pet visit would not be appropriate. Find out if your request for the visit was turned down because of very specific issues relating to the patient’s condition, or because there is no policy in place for pets to visit.. If no policy exists, you can offer to be the pilot visit. At the end of this article is a list of references from the professional literature that support the benefits of family pet visiting and AAT along with a link to a protocol from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Please feel free to share these with the nurses caring for your loved one; it will help them understand the benefits of pet visits and help develop their policy and procedure for visits in the future.Common pet visiting rules include:
Some hospitals even have special “pet visit” shirts the dogs wear to reduce shedding. Good For Everyone Even patients in a coma can benefit from pet visits. A small pet placed on an unconscious patient’s chest stimulates completely different areas of the brain than those we try to connect with when we tap on the patient’s shoulder and say, “Mary, open your eyes!” The subconscious can respond to the smell of the pet, the softness of the fur, and the rhythmic breathing. If the thought of “puppy breath” brings a smile to your face, you know what I mean. Dr. Larry Dossey summed it up best when he said that the evidence favoring the positive health value of pets is so compelling that if pet therapy were a pill, we would not be able to manufacture it fast enough. Have you had your dose today? More Information Written for Health Professionals American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Family Pet Visiting, Animal- assisted Activities and Animal-assisted Therapy in Critical Care Baun MM, Bergstrom N, Langston NF, Thomas L: Physiological effects of human/companion animal bonding. Nursing Research 1984;33:126-129. Connor K, Miller J: Animal-assisted therapy: an in-depth look. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing 2000;19(3):20-26. Dossey L: The healing power of pets: a look at animal-assisted therapy. Alternative Therapies 1997;3(4):8-16. Giuliano KK, Blonaisz E, Bell J: Implementation of a pet visitation program in critical care. Critical Care Nurse 1999;19(3):43-50.
Written: February 2003
Reviewed: May 2004
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