The Experience of Animal Assisted Therapy on Patients in an Acute Care Setting.

Animal assisted therapy (AAT) programs are popular and there has been a proliferation of programs across settings. However, the research to support this intervention has not kept pace. This is particularly so for people who are hospitalized. This investigation aimed to explore the effects of the AAT dog visitation program on patients. A single group pre-post quasi-experimental design evaluated the effect of pet therapy on patients. Measures included salivary cortisol, anxiety, wellbeing, comfort, respiratory and heart rate. Analysis indicates a significant reduction in heart and respiratory rates p < .01 and level of anxiety p < .000 with improved levels of comfort and well-being p < .000. The salivary cortisol result was non-significant p = .623. This ATT dog program resulted in reduced anxiety levels and decreased heart and respiratory rates while improving subjective measures of comfort and wellbeing.

A randomized trial of standardized nursing patient assessment using wireless devices.

A complete and accurate patient assessment database is essential for effective communication, problem identification, planning and evaluation of patient status. When employed consistently for point-of-care documentation, information systems are associated with completeness and quality of documentation. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a randomized, cross-over study conducted to evaluate the adequacy of a standard patient assessment module to support problem identification, care planning and tracking of nursing sensitive patient outcomes. The feasibility of wireless devices to support patient assessment data collection at the point-of-care was evaluated using wireless PDAs and tablet PCs. Seventy-nine (79) nurses from two patient care units at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA) were recruited into the study and randomized to complete patient assessment using wireless or paper devices. At the end of six weeks, nurses who where randomized to the paper assessment module were assigned to a device and those who used a device were assigned to paper for an additional six weeks. Impact was evaluated with regard to data capture, workflow implications and nurse satisfaction. Findings suggest that a standard patient assessment set promotes patient sensitive and quality data capture, which is augmented by the use of wireless devices.