Mentoring Visit 2

Today I met with Janet and Simone for our second mentoring session. Today we visited patients with Janet's Golden Retriever, Rizzo. Like her "sister" Hannah, Rizzo is the ultimate Doggie Brigader with a calm demeanor and an ever-wagging tail.

{Rizzo dressed for Easter}

We started our visit on 8100, the psychiatric unit. This floor is vastly different from the medical floors. The patients spend the majority of their time in the open activity area or in group sessions. These patients are medically stable so there are no IV poles or monitors. Patient rooms are semi-private and are only used for sleeping at night.

There were 4 and 5 kids petting Rizzo at the same time and she was just laying down right in between them all and looking very comfortable. Janet reported to us later that Rizzo looked up at her at one point but was quickly reassured by a pat from Janet.

Next we visited 8200 which is a sort of mixed-bag unit. Patients who use ventilators at home are cared for on this floor when they are hospitalized as well as Ear Nose and Throat patients and Neurosurgery patients. A nurse was attempting to get one of her young patients to walk a few steps so Janet had Rizzo sit outside of her room as an enticement for the little girl to take a few steps.

We then visited 7100 and 7200 which are both Infant/Toddler units for patients between 0 and 5 years of age. We had a few really good responses here with lots of smiles and laughs. Janet explained that when either a small patient or her dog seems uncomfortable, she often finds it helpful to turn her dog around. She explained that it gives a bigger area for the patient to pet and "takes the teeth end out of play" reducing the chance of a nip. A very good lesson!

Gilda will get to come with me to our next mentoring session in 2 weeks and I can't wait! We are getting closer and closer to being official!

Mentoring Visit I

On Saturday April 8 2011, I met with our Doggie Brigade (DB) mentor Janet and another new member, Simone. Janet brought her 4 year-old Golden Retriever, Hannah, along to show us the ropes.

We met in the volunteer office and we were presented with our official volunteer shirts and our new DB aprons, leashes, and bandannas! Janet showed us how to sign in using the new volunteer computer system, where to store our things, and where to find the DB 'special request' list. She also showed us how to use the computer to find out where any other DB teams might be in the hospital to lessen the chance of dog interactions.

[Gilda can't wait to get started!]

We started on 5600 which is the Hematology/Oncology Unit so that we could visit a child whose name was on the special request list.  We were able to visit with 3 patients on this floor before traveling to 6200. This floor is primarily for patients between 13-18 and also has an adult wing (referred to as the CDCU) for those patients over 21 who have 'Chronic Diseases of Childhood'. We had 3 brief visits on this floor with Hannah performing tricks and even getting onto the bed of one adolescent patient. Next we traveled to the School Age Unit or 6100 to visit patients between the ages of 6 and 12.

Between patient visits we discussed DB protocol issues such as:

~ Checking in at each Nursing Station to let staff know that you are on the floor and to see if there are any patient rooms that should not receive a DB visit.
~ Consistently using good hand washing before and after each patient visit
~ Offering Hand Sanitizer to those patients and family members who have petted or interacted with the dog during a visit
~ Using clean linen if the dog will get onto a bed and/or chair and putting the used linens in the appropriate bins at the end of the visit.
~ Knowing what to discuss and what not to discuss with patients and families. Volunteers should not ask about why the patient is hospitalized or personal issues such as where the patient lives. Janet reports that she prefers to talk mainly about her dog and whether or not the patient has pets at home.
~ Being aware of how you end the visit. Janet said that saying, "See you Later" to a school age patient might leave that patient thinking that you'll be back. She said that it is better to say something like, "OK. Hannah is going to visit another patient now".
~ Using courtesy when entering and exiting the elevators by making sure everyone on board is comfortable riding with a dog.
~ Using a short leash to keep your dog near you at all times and never letting another person  handle your DB dog.
~ Being vigilant about reading your dog's cues and knowing when it's time to end your session so that visiting remains a positive adventure for your dog and not a stressful one.

By now we had been in the hospital for 1.5 hours and Janet felt that we had covered enough material and that Hannah had been inside long enough.

As eager as we are to get going with our own visits, this was a very informative and important session for me. I, and probably the majority of people, learn best with a 'Demonstration - Return Demonstration' approach. I truly applaud Akron Children's Hospital for their vigilance in making the Doggie Brigade a wonderful and especially safe program.

Our second mentoring session is scheduled for Thursday April 21 and I can't wait!