Sep 28, 2022
Shelby Bonnet, a certified Child Life Specialist and Animal Assisted Therapy Coordinator, shares how facility dogs are utilized in children's hospitals. This episode is packed full of information on how facility dogs impact patient care and how to balance patient and clinician needs. If you are a parent who has ever wondered about the purpose of a facility dog in hospitals or a clinician who is wanting to have a facility dog be apart of their hospital's program, you will want to give this episode a listen!
[3:00] Shelby shares about her career being a Child Life Specialist and Facility Dog handler
[5:00] How they started the Facility Dog Program
[6:30] Child Life Specialists role with Facility Dogs
[7:12] How her workflow changed
[8:25] Balancing the needs of patients and clinicians
[10:10] Being intentional with your time
[11:18] How Pinto, the facility dog helped with a with an intervention with an oncology patient
[14:08] How Pinto altered the entire families experience, not only the patient
[17:38] Common misconceptions of having a facility dog
[19:07] Life at home with Pinto
[21:04] How to get the process started
[23:22] Splitting time amongst different units in the hospital
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