My name is Lauren and like Rebeccah, who started this blog, I am an Honors student in the UAB School of Nursing. I have selected Hand in Paw for the service-learning project that is a part of the Honors curriculum. A service-learning project entails working with a community partner in a mutually beneficial relationship. The student learns valuable skills and the partner can utilize the service of the nursing student. I chose Hand in Paw because of the significant impact this agency had on my family when my grandmother was required to live in a nursing home. Hand in Paw volunteers visited her facility often and the mood improvement I saw in my grandmother was remarkable. I feel very passionately about the effect that animals have on humans, especially people who are ill, need to be treated for a medical condition, or have a developmental delay. I will be continuing the work of the Honors in Nursing students before me and conducting infection control surveys for quality assurance during visits. To add my own touch to this on-going project, I will also be looking at the effects the visits have on socialization, communication, anxiety levels, reality orientation, attention, concentration, engagement, affect and mood of the patients, residents or students. I am so excited to be working with this wonderful organization! I hope to post lots of pictures and videos of the visits soon and sharing my journey through this project.
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