The benefits that humans receive from interacting with animals, and in particular dogs, is well documented. Studies have shown that interacting with a dog can lead to lower cortisol levels, reduced blood pressure and consequently lower stress levels along with increased resilience.
Due the pace and acuity, emergency departments are one of the most stress-inducing areas of health care. It has been shown that emergency medicine has amongst the highest burn-out rates of all the health specialties, with some of this attributable to long shifts in high-demand roles, with little opportunity to decompress during work hours. Health systems worldwide are now recognising that staff wellness is important to an individual’s longevity and undeniably linked to the ability of the system to deliver high quality health care.
Staff support dogs at Orange Health Service Emergency Department
After following the benefits that other health facilities have seen to staff and patients from having companion dogs present in the hospital, a three-month trial was proposed. The trial would see a staff support dog on site for staff to interact with and reset their focus either routinely or after a traumatic experience in the ED. Given ED is a high stress area, it was decided to introduce a department support dog program to give staff the opportunity to remove themselves from the floor and spend time interacting with a dog to help manage stress. Staff can have lunch with the dogs, take them for a walk or sit quietly with the dog one on one. The program is based on a similar program run out of Royal Melbourne Hospital ED, and after researching the use of dogs in hospitals and potential negative impacts such as infection control, key stakeholders at our hospital were approached. Logistical considerations such as regular walking and breaks from staff, rest times, toileting and access to water were planned for.
Sourcing the perfect companions
Appropriate dogs were then sourced based on the level of training they have had, their temperament and energy level. The dogs were required to be fully vaccinated, given a veterinary health check and washed before attending. Prior to fully implementing the trial, the identified dogs were brought in after hours to the office area. Staff were rotated from the floor to meet and interact with the dogs to assess how the dogs would handle being approached by strangers. After 3 x 2-hour sessions each of the dogs were then commenced on trial and attended the admin area of ED where staff could access the dog for one full day each week. During the three-month trial, the dogs have been available to staff in the critical care hub office area and have attended a number of departmental and hospital meetings. On request, they have visited non-clinical areas outside of the critical care hub. All these visits have been well received with a number of staff requesting further regular visits from the dogs and that the program be expanded to other areas within the hospital such as cancer services and community health.
It must also be stated that the intention of the program was for staff support and wellness and the dogs have not entered into direct contact with patients, despite many requests for the dogs to visit long term patients in the hospital. Anecdotally, it has been witnessed on numerous occasions the dogs being used to comfort distressed staff with all these staff expressing how supported they felt after being with dogs.
Program implemented on an ongoing basis
In order to assess the success of the program a survey was conducted. The survey received 145 responses in a two-week period and demonstrated 95% of respondents wanted to see the program continued and a large percentage wanted to see it expanded to more days in attendance. Of the 145 responses only eight respondents indicated that the program should not continue and five indicated they had seen problems in the hospital with the dogs. In addition, none of the handlers have been approached or advised when the dogs are in the hospital of an issue and as the dogs are always on harness and lead and under positive control no incident that is alluded to by the five respondents can be identified. Due to the success of the trial, the program has now been implemented on an ongoing basis.
