Dogs Paired With Providers at Hospitals Help Ease Staff and Patient Stress

DENVER — Outside HCA HealthONE Rose medical center, the snow is flying. Inside, on the third floor, there’s a flurry of activity within the labor and delivery unit.

This article is from a partnership that includes CPR NewsNPR, and KFF Health News. It can be republished for free.

“There’s a lot of action up here. It can be very stressful at times,” said Kristina Fraser, an OB-GYN in blue scrubs.

Nurses wheel a very pregnant mom past.

“We’re going to bring a baby into this world safely,” Fraser said, “and off we go.”

She said she feels ready in part due to a calming moment she had just a few minutes earlier with some canine colleagues.

Continue reading at KFF Health News

Photo Credit: Hart Van Denburg/CPR News