PEORIA, Ill. – They weren’t there to just “horse around” or manicure the Carle Health Proctor Hospital lawn, but they were there to help.
Two therapy horses were brought in by Carle Tuesday as part of “Nurses’ Week” activities at all three of their local hospitals.
Julie Barth is a health supervisor at Carle’s Pekin Hospital, and owns the two horses used.
“Nurses are very stressed. It’s been a very stressful couple of years for them. Anything that we can do to help them clear their minds for a few minutes, and get away, to take a break, is very important for them,” said Barth.
Barth says she took time away from the profession for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic to help home-school her kids, but admits to feeling a little guilty about that when she saw how stressed and tired her nursing colleagues were.
“Boomer,” left, and “George,” the therapy horses brought to Carle Health Proctor. (Will Stevenson/1470 & 100.3 WMBD)
So she says letting them hang out with her horses “Boomer” and “George” was the least she could do.
Carle officials say therapy animals might be working as good, if not better, for nurses, than patients, based on a study they did starting in 2020.
“We took nurses away from the bedside, and we gave them a fifteen minute break with a therapy dog,” said Lindsey Wilson, Nursing Professional Development Specialist, at Carle Health Methodist Hospital. “We studied their blood pressure, heart rate, and stress level on a stress scale, let them interact with the dogs. Then, we re-tested those measures to see if there’s a difference we can actually measure.”
While it may not be a surprise that things like blood pressure dropped among nurses that spent time with therapy dogs, she says just how much blood pressure dropped was more surprising, along with just having the break time.
It was what launched “Paws for Pets” — which lets nurses interact with therapy animals when available.
Barth said horses and dogs are the only two types of certified therapy animals.
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