Therapy dogs reduce stress for nursing students, study finds

Integrating a therapy dog into the classroom improves mental health support for nursing students, according to a study from the St. Louis University Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing. Published recently in the Journal of Nursing Education, the pilot study included 67 baccalaureate-nursing students in two sections of a course. One section had a therapy dog and the other did not. Students interacted with the dog before class, during a break and after class. At the end of the course, participants in the group with the therapy dog showed improvement in stress, anxiety and happiness; students in the group without the dog did not demonstrate improvement. (Newswise news release, 7/24/23)