Ideas That Work: Puppies Provide Multiple Benefits

Practical pearls from your colleagues

If you’re looking for a good way to offer hard-working staff some stress relief and help the local community, you can’t go wrong with puppies. For Hospital Week this year, St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., brought in adoptable puppies from Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles, Mo., to spread good cheer — and potentially find some furry friends new homes. Lindsey Joyce, MSN, RN, CNL, CNOR, a member of the CVOR team at St. Luke’s, says cuddling and getting some loving from the pups was a great way to forget the stress of the day for a bit. “They brought huge smiles to everyone,” she says.

Of course, the shelter benefitted from the exposure, too. In fact, after the event Ms. Joyce immediately went to her highly engaged LinkedIn account (she’s part of the popular First Case podcast team) and posted a pic of her holding one of the puppies (Boba Fet) with the caption: “Say hi to Boba Fet! He had a lot to say! Puppy day at St. Luke’s Hospital today! All the cuties are up for adoption at the Five Acres Shelter!” OSM