Paws for Relief: How Pet Therapy Supports Nurses and Healthcare Staff
This is a summary of the current research on the effects of pet therapy and animal-assisted interventions (AAI) on nurses and ancillary healthcare staff. It highlights consistent short-term benefits in mood and stress reduction, emerging evidence for burnout relief, and key limitations such as small sample sizes and short-term focus.
9/21/20251 min read
Pet Therapy’s Effect on Ancillary Staff and Nurses
There’s a small but growing body of research on animal-assisted interventions (AAI)/pet therapy for healthcare workers (nurses, techs, ancillary staff). Overall, studies consistently show short-term benefits for mood and perceived stress, with mixed or limited evidence so far for burnout and work engagement.
What the Literature Shows
• Immediate mood boost & lower perceived stress: Multiple hospital programs (often therapy-dog visits) report significant, short-term improvements in staff mood and stress right after brief interactions. Examples include the Ohio State “Buckeye Paws” evaluation and other hospital-based studies.
• Signals (but not slam-dunk proof) for burnout/work engagement: Some studies link facility-dog programs to lower burnout and better job perceptions, though effects are not uniform and sample sizes are small.
• Qualitative findings from nurses and healthcare workers: Interviews and lived-experience papers describe therapy dogs as stress-relieving, morale-boosting, and relationship-building on units, including nursing teams.
• Controlled/experimental designs are emerging: Quasi-experimental and small randomized comparisons show immediate mood gains; effects on physiologic stress markers (e.g., cortisol) are mixed and need larger trials.
Typical Limitations & Caveats
• Short-term outcomes dominate (minutes to days); long-term effects on burnout/retention are unclear.
• Small samples, single sites, and self-selection are common, so generalizability is limited.
• Implementation & safety matter: infection-control rules, allergy protocols, handler training, and patient-care workflow need clear policies. Guidance papers focus on feasibility/acceptability as much as outcomes.
Bottom Line
For nurses and ancillary staff, therapy-dog/AAI sessions are a practical, well-liked, low-risk way to lift mood and reduce perceived stress in the moment. Early evidence for burnout reduction is promising but not definitive—larger, longer studies are needed.
Sources Cited
· Ohio State University ‘Buckeye Paws’ program evaluation
· Kline et al. (2025). Animal-assisted interventions for healthcare worker well-being.
· McCullough et al. (2018). Facility dog programs in hospitals and impact on staff.
· Ein et al. (2018). Review of animal-assisted therapy on stress and cortisol.
· North Carolina hospital-based therapy dog qualitative interviews (various).
· Jung et al. (2022). Animal-assisted interventions feasibility and acceptability in healthcare settings.