A growing mental health crisis among healthcare workers is being addressed by the presence of therapy dogs at HCA HealthONE Rose medical center in Denver. Dogs like Peppi, a yellow Lab, provide a calming presence and help staff decompress during stressful shifts. The dogs are carefully trained and kept away from patients with allergies to minimize risks. Advocates believe that human-animal interaction can have positive effects on mental and emotional well-being.
Peppi, a yellow Lab and official"Canine Companion," sits on the lap of OB-GYN Kristina Fraser in November at the HCA Health ONE Rose medical center in Denver.medical center in Denver, the snow is flying. Inside, on the third floor, there's a flurry of activity at Labor and Delivery.She said she feels ready in part thanks to a calming moment she had just a few minutes earlier with some canine colleagues.
The dogs aren't visitors. They work here, too, specifically for the benefit of the staff."I feel like that dog just walks on and everybody takes a big deep breath and gets down on the ground and has a few moments of just decompressing," Fraser said."It's great. It's amazing."Nurses on a break crowd around to pet Peppi, a Canine Companion dog, in November at Denver's HCA HealthONE Rose medical center.
She said doctors and other providers can be good at hiding their struggles, because they have to compartmentalize:"How else can I go from a patient who had a cardiac arrest, deal with the family members telling them that, and go to a room where another person is mad that they've had to wait 45 minutes for their ear pain? And I have to flip that switch."
The Rose medical center gave Ryan approval to bring a dog to work during her ER shifts. Ryan's colleagues said they are delighted that a dog is part of their work life.
Therapy Dogs Mental Health Healthcare Workers Stress Trauma
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