Diabetic Alert Dog at work in Hospital

studentih · Sep 11, 2015

I dont think this is very fair to assume. It seems like anyone with an invisible illness is subject to this kind of suspicion and its usually not the case at all. This can happen with handicap parking spaces as well, for example. Sure, some people take advantage of it when they don't need it. But most people actually do need it, even if it isn't obvious to you why they do. I would encourage you to not be one of those people that makes those kind of judgments when you aren't in a position to know enough about the situation to do so.

I wish I could like this more than one time.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Sep 12, 2015

It was a good question, OP. You'll get more of an idea of how a dog would fit in as you go through your clinicals. I'd say at least half of nursing jobs would not be able to accommodate a dog. I'd also say that even if they could, the paperwork and dept of health checks and balances would take more than a year to get through, even if your employer was extremely motivated. As a new grad, you'd likely get passed over for jobs because no one has time for that (though they'd tell you something else). I think this would be a fabulous topic for a paper someday.

NOADLS · Sep 12, 2015

I am going through nursing school dogless.

If you can make it through nursing school without the dog, why would you need the dog in the workplace?

I've done my reading on diabetic alert dogs and I think that they are similar to self-driving cars; they take responsibility away from the person. Driving a car is a skill and so is managing your blood sugar.

I don't know you on a personal level, so I don't know what why you have the dog. Some people will have a diabetic alert dog as a way of slacking. The thought process is along the lines of "this dog will tell me when I will go high or low, so I don't need to test regularly and I can eat more liberally." On the other side of things, someone could have an alert dog, frequently test and be on a strict diet. In this case, the alert dog would serve as a backup.

In either case, being able to pick out symptoms of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia is another line of defense before an alert dog becomes viable. I am aware that sometimes the symptoms aren't there for some people, so in these instances, an alert dog would be reasonable.

direw0lf, BSN · Sep 12, 2015

I guess I had a comment if it's worth anything. I used to be very active with therapy dog international until my dog got a severe mrsa infection that went to her bone. It took over a year to treat and euthanasia came up twice, she was that sick and in pain. That was after going to nursing homes and rehabs. It will be a huge responsibility on the owner's part to keep cleaning their dog, watch for any small wound on the dog, and also a huge risk the dog carries infections home. Once you start nursing school (like I recently have) you will start learning about how easy it is to get an infection... unfortunately I'll never expose my dogs to a health care facility again, they mean too much to me and I'm afraid you might find that out the hard way after all this work and money to obtain one and get a job with one... And also you'll probably be running all over, your dog will stay put, but then that kind of defeats their purpose to detect your blood sugar levels. I just would always discourage this after what we went through. However....if you really will still pursue this I recommend K9 lycra body suit (Google will find) it's a skin tight suit for dogs. Though the feet, tail, and face will still be exposed.

Julius Seizure · Sep 13, 2015

Ok, assumptions work both ways. If you say I shouldn't assume about OP, then how can you assume about me?

I dont think I did make any assumptions about you. I just said I dont think the statement you made was fair, and that it reminded me of similar statements that I've heard others make that I also didn't think were fair. No assumptions about you.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2015

That is true, but one does have to get through nursing school first, and we all know that the vast majority of those cool jobs in other, nonacute settings requires some amount of acute inpatient care experience to be considered qualified.

Not necessarily. I knew of a nurse who went into teaching instead of acute care or other direct care. She had polio before or while a student, I believe. She became, I think, the President or Dean of a university college of Nursing.

Never say something is impossible. Pursue your dream. Ask God to provide helpers and open doors. If you are not religious, don't ask God, but my point is to not let anyone deter you if you really want something. Sorry for any offense. And I truly wish you all the best.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2015

You just sound suspicious of her, critical, maybe jealous, too. No giving her the benefit of the doubt. Sorry to speak plainly, but I have met soooo many people throughout my working life who are like you and it has caused me great pain. Can we ever just be nice, can we ever just trust that someone is not trying to get one over on us?

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2015

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.

Yeah, but who's going to tell a doctor he/she can't have a dog? The interpreter - well, he/she is probably not there all the time? Or maybe your facility is quite progressive. Also, the interpreter can probably work in one spot?

direw0lf, BSN · Sep 13, 2015

Also how well would it be for the dog to have to hold it's bladder for 12+ hours? I know you don't need to work 12 hour shifts but I hear it's the likeliest and then mandatory overtimes. I hear nurses barely have time to empty their own bladders. A service dog will be trained to hold it even with their smaller bladder, but I'd feel bad for that dog and eventually it will cause UTI's and things. I hate sounding like I care more about a dog than a person as that's not really the case.

Overland1, RN · Sep 13, 2015

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.

I recall the "Peanuts" comic strips in which Lucy refers to "dog germs". :) The sad truth is that, while some dogs, may be an asset in some inpatient settings (i.e., pet therapy, etc.), I am not sure I would want my dog exposed to all the "bugs" that so many hospitals contain. In most cases, it would be no worse than any other public places, but why take the chance?

On the other hand, my GSD would make a great addition in the ER, watching the malefactors (aka, certain patients prone to misbehavior). Imagine them awakening from a drunk or drugged sleep to see a German Shepherd calmly sitting there, staring at them.

Alisonisayoshi, LVN · Sep 14, 2015

I just want to point out that I don't use a dog. I'm a working nurse. I use dexcom. I'm also a special rare snowflake among the non insulin producing folk. I don't have a pancreas. At all. Nothing there. That means no signaling hormones to raise my sugar in an extreme low. The leading cause of death for folks like me, the reason we are given lifespans of max 10 years post op (I'm nearly 16 years out) is that vital little signal. I am my only go to in a low. I free fall rapid drop in any lows. My liver won't dump rescue sugar. Let me reiterate, with all that, I'm still just using a dexcom.

I gave OP my advice based on research I did about a dog a few years back. A few points, dogs limit where you can work, dogs can't hold pee an entire shift, dogs are thrown off by extreme scent in environment. So you get a dog who is limits where you work, who you treat cruelly by making it hold its pee, and who can't adequately function because of foul smells.

So why the dog and not just the dex? Well the reason can't be brittleness, because if that was a good enough reason, I'd have one (and yes, if I can't self rescue I'm a darn good example). It can't be accuracy because you screw that with extreme and distracting scents. So that leaves the fuzzy and cool factor. They are fuzzy and cool, I will admit that, but in a tight nursing market do you want to limit what and where you can practice?