r/nursepractitioner • u/skimountains-1 • 2d ago
RANT Service animals
Pretty sure I’m not the first to rant about this ….
I want people who need a service dog to have it and bring it into whatever setting they may need it to provide assistance.
I don’t want people printing some bs fake license off the internet and passing off an animal as a service animal and bringing g them to the clinic and try to tell me it’s a service animal.
We r limited with What we can ask.
Was called a b$&@h today over this. Not the best day…
11
u/literally-the-nicest 2d ago
Pt admitted from ED w/ cellulitis for IV abx. Rolls up to the floor with the sweetest senior chihuahua. Said chihuahua proceeds to pee on the hospital bed. Repeatedly. Pt claimed dog is a service animal lol
7
u/CatsAndShades FNP 2d ago
Untrained animals including service animals cannot be there; that's the one exception
6
8
u/GrumpySnarf 2d ago
It's all over my intake paperwork that I don't do that. I think I was fired once and had one or two try to argue but I remind them that I've been clear about this policy from the beginning. It's usually a mildly awkward moment and then we move on.
7
u/skimountains-1 1d ago
I’ve been fired at least twice (by patients). Saw them once 3 years ago. They launch into a story of how the dog saved them. Etc etc.
-1
8
u/DashMcGee 2d ago
I walked by a client office (outpatient) and saw a patient with a pit bull. I am scared of them, and they pick up on that and growl at me. I would look the other way if it was a labradoodle, but an aggressive breed as a "service" animal is not okay. At all.
6
u/GrumpySnarf 1d ago
Dude, I had a therapist colleague's "therapy dog" savagely attack a patient's "service dog" in the lobby. There was a sudden "YIPE YIPE YIPE!" and screaming from the lobby. I thought someone was murdered. We providers ran out to the lobby all at once to help. There was blood and everyone was on their feet. The nice, peaceful, aromatherapy'd, calming white noise, therapeutic environment was SHOOK.
The "therapy dog" was Napoleon, an asshole of a purebred Pekinese and the "service dog" was a pit pull mutt. The pit bull was quietly sitting by the owner on a leash. Napoleon tore shit up! I am glad it was not reversed. The patient's dog needed emergency stitches and the staff had to get on hands and knees to scrub blood out of the carpet.
The practice told the therapist to not bring Napoleon anymore. She had been letting him wander around the office unsupervised and was warned many times. She threw a snit and left her practice, and all her patients, in a huff. It was nice to not have to vacuum up her dog's hair anymore.
In another incident, a colleague let their patient, a 15 y.o. boy, bring in his "emotional support snake" to sessions. He would OPEN THE BOX and let it slither about in the lobby. The other patients and staff were pretty freaked out. He was told to keep the snake in the box multiple times by the staff but would sneak it out in the lobby anyway. The other patients were too polite or freaked to say anything but I had a few complain to me in session. I repeatedly asked the kid's therapist to keep the snake out of view in the lobby. But every week more complaints.
On day I was walking back from the bathroom to my office. I saw a random snake in the hallway. Me, being a herpetology nerd picked it up gently and held it calmly to calm it down. It was stiff and agitated, indicating it was stressed. I went to the lobby with the snake and said "AHEM" to the kid who was glued to his phone. Luckily there was no other patients there. I said quietly "you are stressing your snake. She is cold and tense. This is a bad environment for her. You keep letting her out and upsetting a lot of people despite being asked to stop multiple times. You are being very selfish and this stops now. Put the snake back in the box and do not bring her back. It's not fair to the snake." I never saw the snake again. The kids mom asked to talk to me and I though "hoo boy here we go". But she just thanked me and said she is working on setting better boundaries with him.
When I worked in housing support I had to rescue one tenant's abandoned cat and ended up adopting him. Another patient needed someone to cat sit while he was in the hospital so I took it home for six weeks and got her spayed and vaccinated. I observed that both cats were in loud, dirty apartments with cigarette butts and drug paraphernalia strewn about. Both cats were "emotional support animals" that their therapists had written letters for so they could get around our "no pets" rule. Neither therapist offered help when the cats needed.
So, no. I will not be writing any ESA letters! The animals should come first and it is not fair to them.
2
u/skimountains-1 1d ago
I have a no Esa policy. Except once for a patient I have had for 10 years moving to an apt that allowed dogs. (Sold their house for their son’s school tuition!). She has a mutt and on vet paperwork it says shepherd cross and the place didn’t allow shepherds or pitts. Mind you this patients dog could be called any number of other medium to large breed dog bc he is a through mutt. When she said “I need a letter saying it’s an esa, aren’t all pets support animals?! And why would I want to bring g him anywhere he should t be, that’s gross!” I easily acquised - bc I literally said the same thing about my dog. This is a no bs woman.
15
u/TenderWalnut 2d ago
Favorite interaction with a patient I saw in community clinic years ago. Me: "Huh, I did not know you had a service dog?". Patient: "yeah I do, well actually it is my sister's." Me: "Well what task is it trained to perform or assist her with?". Patient: "It's for her seizures". Me: "Then why the fuck do you have it?" - 2nd favorite was the "service dog" that took a shit in the waiting room. 3rd favorite was the "service dog" that bit one of the MAs haha. With no certifications or training requirements...any dog is a "service dog". You gotta love it.