Measuring the impact of animal assisted therapy on hospitalized patients' mood

Purpose: Patients hospitalized on medical-surgical inpatient units experience an increase in emotions such as depression and anxiety including hopelessness, fatigue, discouragement, nervousness, and anxiousness, which negatively impact their overall mood and process of healing. The aim of this project was to measure the impact of an existing Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) program on hospitalized patients' moods within the medical surgical inpatient setting. Improving patients' moods while hospitalized in the medical surgical inpatient units may improve patient outcomes, reduce length of stay and readmission rates, contribute to their healing process, and improve patient satisfaction scores. Methodology: A two-group pre test post-test design was used with an observational component. Participants included English-speaking adults over the age of 18 that were on one of two inpatient medical surgical units in the same hospital. Animal Assisted Therapy visits of 7-10 minutes by a therapy dog and its handler were conducted; all participants completed a self-rated Abbreviated Profile of Mood State Survey questionnaire before and after the session. Results: All participants had a decrease in their Abbreviated POMS scores; findings were statistically significant determined by a paired sample test (p= 0.000). No correlations between demographic findings and changes in scores were significant. Observational data supported the findings that AAT increased patient's mood. Implications for Practice: Findings could help expand the use of AAT to additional facets of nursing in order to affect a broader patient population and therefore improve patient mood and overall wellness. Through the use of AAT healthcare facilities have the ability to gain improvements in patient satisfaction scores, which will ultimately contribute to insurance reimbursement and financial gains of the hospital.DNPIncludes bibliographical reference