Disgusting Dogs going into ICUs at a hospital near you

[SummerFeverVenice]

Is anyone else horrified at the thought of “therapy” dogs going on hospitals’ wards and even into ICUs? I read this article and was throughly disgusted at the idea of animals and all their associated filth being allowed into hospitals.

Outpatient, psychiatric wards I have no problem with. But regular wards and the ICU?! Where infection control and hygiene must be upheld…surely this is a bad idea. In the article one of the volunteers even let her dog lick a patient’s face! Plus the top photo shows a dog that has climbed into bed with a patient.

I feel like dog worship has gone a step too far.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7w4lzyg2lo

I totally agree with you SummerFeverVenice. I wouldn't sit on a bed after doing a poo and not wiping my bum but seemingly it's okay for a dog to wipe faecal matter all over the place in a hospital, lick it's bum and then lick the face of a very ill patient....

Nope.

If the patients enjoy them and the professional clinical staff are happy with the risk assessment, I’d say it is eff all to do with you.

Yes, and yes again!

I don't like dogs and would hate to see one in my space if I was very ill. However, I understand many people would feel differently. As long as the dog did not come to my bed or touch me I'd be fine with it. I would be all for it in a paeds ward I think. And in a secure mental health unit (where I have worked) a therapy dog has been a great idea when we had her in.

disgusting dogs

OP, you’re clearly an animal hater.
Dogs don’t spread disease to humans 🙄 humans do.

The biggest problem in our health board is cdif and MRSA. Now that does worry me.

Given that therapy dogs have been used in a hospital setting since 1976, I’m fairly sure people’s allergies (life threatening or otherwise), phobias and simple preferences can be accommodated

This thread makes me so sad. People so defensive about any criticism of dogs that they’ll actually be nasty and aggressive toward a worried cancer patient. Posters calling her a troll or goady or ‘deranged’ 😔 Others arguing that dogs are cleaner than humans despite the fact that dogs walk round with an open arsehole and shit where they like.

Funny how the warm and fuzzies, that everyone claims are therapeutic, don’t extend to anybody not gaga over dogs. In fact it’s a big fuck you unless you’re worshipping at the alter. 🙄

Yes. Dog worship has definitely gone too far. Some posters here should be ashamed.

Have you ever seen a therapy dog in a hospital. Because I have. He was the cleanest dog I have ever seen and so gentle.

I am a nurse and we recently had a visit from 3 beautiful Therapy Huskies,it was a FANTASTIC day and everyone benefitted 😇 mentally and physically.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of dogs visiting wards. When my DC was in hospital after brain surgery I was a bit pissed off their siblings couldn't come in but the flipping reiki woman and the therapy dog could stroll in and out anytime. Ideally I think the dogs could be in a room in the hospital and then patients who want to could go or be wheeled down as needed. I do like dogs but feel a bit squeamish about them being in clean places, bedrooms, and places people eat.

@SummerFeverVenice

what illnesses can be transmitted by dogs please? I have had dogs since a child, so some 50 years, I have never caught anything off them

if you are allergic to dogs the hospital will be aware, and you can refuse visits.

They bring joy to many, it’s been proved they can help recovery from illness( which won’t have been caught from the dog)

it’s no different to people walking in from outside and sit going on beds, in fact they are the ones bring in germs, so if you are immunocompromised then I assume you don’t allow yourself to have any visitors at all, not even close family, as it’s more likely they will bring stuff in

I think the healing powers of dog would far outweigh any risk of infection. When I say healing I mean the mental healing . We got a dog 2 years after my husband died and what it did for my children is remarkable. They get so much comfort out of him imagine what patients would get from it.

If the OP is in a hospital and they have a life threatening allergy to dogs the staff are not going to let a dog near them.

Wednesday will be exactly 9 months since my 8 year old son has been in hospital. That includes 7 weeks in PICU and 12 weeks on the oncology ward. He’s now on a surgical ward after having his 5th bowel surgery.

He’s been through hell and I’m all for whatever puts a smile on his face. Today it was nurses singing Christmas songs and someone painting his face as Spiderman but on Thursdays? It’s always the therapy dog.

I’ll never be against something that gives people and children stuck in hospital for months joy.

I was allowed to take our previous dog into the dementia care home to see my grandmother. There was an old man that I had barely seen communicate or even smile on the other side of the room..his face lit up, he called out 'Bruce, Bruce..I've missed you' I took my dog over, he rubbed my dogs ears and said' when I leave here, you and me are going out for walks' ..I let him pet my dog for a while..
It made an elderly man happy for a while as he thought his dog was visiting him.

fact that dogs walk round with an open arsehole

So much better to walk around with an open arsehole rather than actually be one.

These anti dog rants do get tiresome. I'm committing the crime of not reading the thread....I'll get around to it, but just wanted to post this.

I currently have a terminally ill patient here. She is due to be transferred to the local hospice, but it is very likely that she will have to stay put as she's not stable enough to manage the journey and dying jn an ambulance isn't the dignified death anyone would wish.

She is a great animal lover and has two dogs who are now being cared for by her sister. She's been here for a couple of weeks now and has been distraught at the thought of leaving them - the humans and the animals in her life.

Now we could say that as we are a cancer ward and we most of our patients are immunocompromised due to their treatment that we can't possibly allow the dogs to visit. Or we could be compassionate to someone who has a few days/weeks left and allow her to have her sister bring in her pups so she could spend time cuddling them and talking to them - she's in a room on her own - before she leaves them forever.

We did the second one. They've been here today and she's very aware that it could be the last time she sees them. They know something is wrong as they spent all day either side of her on her bed - two springer spaniels so not huge - apart from toilet breaks. Those animals broight her joy in her life when her husband died. Were company when her son and family moved to Australia and have given her a reason to keep going in the darkest moments. It isn't likely that her son will make it back in time to say goodbye in person. He did that over FaceTime at the weekend. Yes she is that close to death.

But those dogs made it a little better for her. How cruel would we have been to deny her that just because so,e people don't understand the relationship between a dog and their human.

YABU

What a lovely initiative!

Im no fan of dogs (or cats tbh) but even I can appreciate that dogs are fantastic as a form of therapy. The dogs will be well trained, well behaved, well looked after (ie clean!) and clearly wont be running around off lead, barking or snapping at peoples heels (unlike a dashund I had the misfortune to encounter yesterday)
So if the dogs enjoy it too, what is the problem? Look at the joy on that womans face. Worth a visit from a dog for sure.

If you genuinely think dogs are "disgusting" maybe you have issues with hygiene/cleanliness op.

@Screamingabdabz

I agree there is no need for nastiness, however your comments about open arsehole and shit where they like is uncalled for, dogs are clean animals, you don’t see shit hanging from the ‘open arsehole’

How many people visiting the wards do you think have washed their hands after going to the toilet? Because lots don’t, and that included if they do a poo.

How many people will be walking in mud and bring it in? How many people will visit those in hospital with coughs and colds, and gladly share it with ill people.

How many times each year do hospitals close to visitors because of norovirus? All transmitted by humans and not dogs

likewise I accept not everyone likes dogs, they are not forced to see the therapy dogs, they can refuse

Titling your post 'disgusting dogs' does kind of sound like you hate them. It certainly doesn't sound like you love them 😉

@SummerFeverVenice Just seen you'll be in for chemo. You do realise that you're probably be given a PICC line. This means you will need to have it flushed every single week for the duration of chemotherapy. (Some weeks, I was in hospital three times a week). PICC lines get infected, get blocked and all manner of things. This would worry me far more than anything else. Prior to getting one, I had no idea whatsoever how tricky and problematic they can be. Ditto surgical drains. Btw, they will give you a schedule for your chemotherapy appointments etc so you will know what days you will be there.

To echo what others have said, speak to your hospital trust to find out if they have therapy animals in the hospital you will be treated at. That is the first thing you must do. And again, speak to your breast cancer nurse and the admission nurse when you have your pre-op assessment. Flag this. Make sure it is on your records.

Wishing you well with your op, treatment and recovery. It's a well-trodden road that regrettably, many of us, including me, have been down. Drink lots of water, particularly before, during and after your infusion, it's best to flush it out of your system as quickly as possible.