Diabetic Alert Dog at work in Hospital

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I was just curious is anyone knew, or could find out if I get a job as an RN, and if I have a Diabetic Alert Dog for my type 1 diabetes, could my full access service dog go to work with me at a hospital? Thanks for any help!

Specializes in CVICU.
With the floor being covered in nasty germs, would you even want your dog to walk on it then lick their paws?

I have a service dog in training and I would not want mine to go to work for that reason.

Dogs walk through and roll around in mud, lake water, and even other animals' feces and they survive. While I don't see the practicality of a nurse having a diabetic therapy dog, I don't think this is a big concern.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Patients are in the hospital to get better. If you bring your dog into the hospital there is a chance you could spread more disease. The patients are already at risk for nosocomial infections as is, let's not make it any worse with whatever the dog might bring & spread.

I have epilepsy but you don't see me getting a dog for that. There are just things that don't make much sense in nursing. I commend you wanting to become a nurse but maybe you should find a different route than using a dog.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

I know one nurse who uses guide dog because she is legally blind. She has Master's and works as onco services navigator and consultant, but she had years of experience before she became disabled.

I do not see any problems if OP would do some sort of Bachelor's with good science component and then direct entry MSN with end in education or nursing informatics or even more office-based nursing specialties, of which are already dozens and new ones keep appearing. Sleep consulting, office-based cardio, etc. But direct bedside patient care will be less a possibility. Sure 100% nobody will say anything directly, avoiding conflicts with ADA. OP will just hear all these politically correct niceties about seeing and calling right tomorrow, and wait, and then find out that "we just decided to go on with more qualified candidate".

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

BTW, OP, i hope you realize that even if you train your dog not to go into the room with you and stay put nearby, your clothes will contain enough microparticles shedded by the dog to send someone into a full-blown asthma attack right then and there. Breeds that don't shed do not solve the problem in more severe cases.

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Not to bash on your desire to be a nurse, OP, but have you considered any other health related fields?

Other options like OT, PT, audiology, speech therapy, or social work would offer the opportunity to work in healthcare and probably have more job options and accommodations for a service dog than nursing. Especially for someone just starting out.

Having a service animal might even been seen as a bonus, since many of the patients requiring those types of services might have a service animal as well.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

OP- do not confuse honest answers to your question with rudeness when the answer is not the one you wanted. No one here was rude to you. There's plenty of that in the world- don't go looking to be offended.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Many have mentioned what if a patient is allergic to the dog? What if a coworker is allergic, are they required to suffer? I myself wouldn't care but I did pose to my facility's risk manager and got a resounding no, simply as there are so many variables

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Specializes in Neuroscience.
That's what I am thinking. I just applied to my local nursing program last week. I just got off the phone with my local hospital as well. She said she will look into it and give me a call back tomorrow. I was thinking maybe on certain floors. The only reason I am asking ahead of time, is because these dogs can get very expensive. I would have to fundraise a couple years prior to actually getting a dog.

Let me get this straight. You're a type 1 diabetic, you've never actually had a service dog, but now you want to know if you can get one and take it to the hospital?

Why don't you continue with what you've been doing, and skip getting the dog?

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Specializes in Early Intervention, Nsg. Education.
I know one nurse who uses guide dog because she is legally blind. She has Master's and works as onco services navigator and consultant, but she had years of experience before she became disabled.

I do not see any problems if OP would do some sort of Bachelor's with good science component and then direct entry MSN with end in education or nursing informatics or even more office-based nursing specialties, of which are already dozens and new ones keep appearing. Sleep consulting, office-based cardio, etc. But direct bedside patient care will be less a possibility. Sure 100% nobody will say anything directly, avoiding conflicts with ADA. OP will just hear all these politically correct niceties about seeing and calling right tomorrow, and wait, and then find out that "we just decided to go on with more qualified candidate".

I've had a service dog for 7 1/2 years. I have multiple disabilities as a result of a neuromuscular metabolic disease. He was initially trained to do standard tasks such as retrieving dropped objects, opening doors, operating light switches, etc. During our first 24 hours together, he started alerting to the alarms on my enteral and parenteral pumps, and my noninvasive vent. (I am profoundly deaf as a result of aminoglycoside ABX.) Over the years, he has alerted to several severe hypoglycemia episodes, and I have not lost consciousness or had a seizure with him by my side.

Obviously, I am no longer able to provide direct patient care. I teach part time, present continuing Ed workshops, and write articles and such for nonprofit organizations. My SD accompanies me at all times. However, I need to make sure that I can fulfill my responsibilities to my employers, meet my medical and personal needs, and meet my SD's needs at all times. For me, that means that I need to hire someone to accompany me (us) whenever I am working outside of my home. if I can't ensure that I can meet all objectives contracted by my employer, I can't take the job.

The other piece of having a Service Dog is pretty obvious...it's a dog. An extremely obedient, impeccably behaved, highly trained dog, but a dog nonetheless. He sheds. He licks his dog parts. He yips, snarls, and wiggles when he dreams his doggy dreams in the middle of my lectures. He stays on his "place" (a brown bath mat) when I'm working, unless I give him a command or he's responding /alerting to a sound. When he alerts, I need to respond immediately. If I'm in the middle of a sentence, I need to excuse myself and investigate what he's alerting to. Since I'm teaching adults, I can take 5, 10, 15 seconds to troubleshoot, and then my assistant can take over whatever problem needed to be fixed. If I don't respond consistently, the alerting behavior will diminish, and will become unreliable pretty quickly. (Remember, his motivation for completing tasks is much, much different from mine.) There are basic command drills that we must practice every single day, and will continue to reheorifice every day until he retires. Without consistently reinforcing the behaviors with an immediate response, my Service Dog would become a "mascot."

(Not that he isn't the most spoiled pooch I've ever met, already! 😎)

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.

When I was inpatient on a psych unit, one of the psychiatrists had a service dog. I also believe one of the interpeters at my hospital also has a service dog.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Let me get this straight. You're a type 1 diabetic, you've never actually had a service dog, but now you want to know if you can get one and take it to the hospital?

Why don't you continue with what you've been doing, and skip getting the dog?

Maybe because it's more interesting to play the ADA card and see how far you can push the definition of "reasonable accommodations"?

I have asthma and a dog allergy. I can walk into an immaculate home, and within 15 minutes I'm sucking my rescue inhaler. The answer to my question "Do you have a dog?" Is always "Yes".

So, would I be willing to have a nurse with a service dog take care of me? Nope. Because in addition to the allergy, I would also be wondering about her health, and if she's that fragile, should we maybe change places?

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Specializes in Oncology.
When he alerts, I need to respond immediately. If I'm in the middle of a sentence, I need to excuse myself and investigate what he's alerting to. Since I'm teaching adults, I can take 5, 10, 15 seconds to troubleshoot, and then my assistant can take over whatever problem needed to be fixed. If I don't respond consistently, the alerting behavior will diminish, and will become unreliable pretty quickly. (Remember, his motivation for completing tasks is much, much different from mine.)

This is another interesting point I haven't considered. How would you respond to alerts right away? I can't respond to pump and CGM alarms right away when I'm at work all of the time, if I'm in the middle of a sterile dressing change, IV start, blood draw, code, or elbow deep in body fluids.

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