Baron with a patient
During her first week on the job at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center about eight years ago, Kaia, a golden retriever, showed a 5-year-old boy in the radiology department how to bravely endure a CT scan.
“I was crying. The doctor was crying. The parents were so happy that it was over, and that we didn’t have to come back and he was under anesthesia,” said Ashley Kane, manager of the Child Life Program at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, who oversees the dog program and was Kaia’s primary handler.
Within a few days, Kaia, the first dog in the program, proved how valuable she was to the team.
In June, almost eight years after her first service and a few months before her planned retirement, Kaia passed away unexpectedly.
“Since Kaia’s passing, I’ve learned that her impact and reach was far greater than I ever imagined,” Kane said. “Kaia broke barriers and loved everyone she met unconditionally.”
Despite this tragic loss, Kaia paved the way for five other full-time dogs to pursue careers at Hershey Medical Center, each with their own specialty on campus.
Skye, whose primary handler is Kelly Fuddy, a staff caregiver for Penn State Health, is one such working dog. The caregivers were added in 2022 to help with the growing need among healthcare workers.
“We reserve Skye’s energy and compassion for caring for our staff,” said Fuddy, who acknowledged the myriad stressors in health care, including exposure to trauma, grief and moral distress. “Skye sometimes takes it upon herself to jump into a chair next to someone during a debriefing or meeting who she thinks needs a little TLC.”
Another facility dog, Pilot, cares for patients in the pediatric surgery and pediatric intensive care units. Captain focuses on helping young children in the orthopedic and neurophysiology pediatric specialty clinics. Thor works with adult patients in acute care and inpatients at the Penn State Cancer Institute, often helping them maintain their strength by walking with them through the hallways. Baron’s primary area of work is the pediatric inpatient oncology and hematology unit.
Working with children in the pediatric radiology and radiation oncology departments, Kaia would often jump up on tables to show patients how to perform a particular procedure or test without making them feel afraid. Patients could hold her on a leash, pet her, or simply feel comfortable knowing she was nearby or, in the case of x-rays, where no one was allowed in the room with them, simply waiting outside the door until they were done. Perhaps the most challenging part of her job was helping families and patients with terminal care.
Thorn
This hard work explains the need for rest and decompression in a working facility dog day. Just like pets at home, these dogs get plenty of rest during their time in the hospital. When I spoke with Kane just before Kaia’s death, Kaia slept under her desk the entire conversation.
“They need that rest to process all the emotions that people are feeling,” Kane said.
Playtime is also important. The dogs often gather in a safe play area in the afternoon, where their handlers remove their vests and they enjoy time with their peers. At home, they are just pets, some with canine siblings who are full-time pets, although they do enjoy extra baths to stay clean for a medical environment.
People need rest too, but it can be hard for Penn State Health employees to get out of the work mindset. That’s one way Skye comes in.
“Skye can reach staff in emotional moments in a way that we humans are limited to,” Fuddy said. “Sometimes people don’t want to stop and talk, but Skye gives them a great excuse to stop, smile, and step away for a moment.”
The pastoral team aims to support staff in three key areas: crisis response, residual need, and resilience building. Skye is also part of this effort. She visits a number of units monthly for so-called “hug meetings,” where team members can process difficult cases and release that burden.
In an anonymous impact survey, one staff member wrote about Skye: “Skye came in for a debriefing with the nurses on my unit the day after we had sent a child to foster care, with whom we had grown very close during the six months he had been in care. A handful of us felt very conflicted about the decisions being made on his behalf. We loved him very much, but his care was driving us to burnout. I honestly didn’t feel like talking about anything. I was just ethically exhausted. I felt personally regulated by just sitting and cuddling little Skye. Sometimes we need to talk things through, and sometimes that’s all we need.”
In terms of patient care, Kane said her career has been boosted by the experience she gained as Kaia’s primary caregiver.
Kaia’s first day
“The loss of Kaia has only served to strengthen our commitment to our facility canine program with our existing five full-time facility dogs and their handler teams as we realize their purpose and impact,” Kane said. “And as we had planned before Kaia’s passing, we will continue to thoughtfully grow our facility canine program over time.”
For more information, visit www.pennstatehealth.org/childrens/your-visit/support-services/facility-dog-programand you can follow the facility’s dogs on Instagram at @pennstatehealthpups.
Photos courtesy of Penn State Health.
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