Nurse with a therapy dog?

[theincrediblearc]

Hi there, I'm a nursing student with an amazing lab puppy that is perfect for therapy work. I've done a lot of research about volunteering with therapy dogs and what to do when working 12s (doggy daycare/dog walkers/etc) but one of the things I've been searching for without success is information about semi permanent dog residents at nursing homes or assisted living. Ideally i would like to work something out where my dog and i start out doing volunteering at a nursing home on days off until staff and patients become used to him and then be able to drop him off there while I'm at work and pick him up when i'm done. it might be naive idillic thinking but i see it as a win-win-win. i don't have to worry about my dog at work, he has a chance to be social and active and the patients have the comfort of a dog roaming the halls. obviously i would have to find a place that already had pet visitors and all patients would have to be allergy free or have him limited to a certain ward or floor. another possibility would be to leave him in a court yard or fenced yard and have patients come see him at will or family members bring him to their rooms. if anyone has heard of anything like this, or sees this as a complete disaster please tell me to snap back to the real world and stop dreaming. but if anyone sees this as a minor possibility i would love to hear what you think.

[klone, MSN, RN]

My husband, a home hospice nurse, would sometimes take 12-hour overnight shifts in the respite facility his hospice had. Once in a while he would bring our Great Dane with him. Very mellow, lazy boy, and the perfect height for resting his big block head on the residents' beds for pats. They loved him and it worked out well. He would wander in and out of the rooms to visit or just sleep on the couch in the TV room. We were in the process of getting him certified as a therapy dog for the local hospital when he died of Addison's. I have no point, other than this thread reminded me of that. He was a good boy.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

A local LTC has several dogs that roam the halls, however they are full time residents themselves. The LTC has a huge fenced in garden/pond area they are free to roam as well. They are all rescues and one is a huge (chunky) mastiff. The residents LOVE the dogs, and the dogs are happy with all of the attention & snacks they get. It's win win.