The February issue of Dental Nursing celebrates the power of pets – and how they can make a difference to dental nurses whose role is often challenging amid this pandemic.

Our pets can be a fabulous source of comfort in times of stress. They boost our mental health and those that require regular exercise ensure we stay physically fit, too. They are great motivators and, in darker days, can pull us out of our gloom and doom in an instant.

They give us purpose and love us no matter what – arguably, unconditional affection rivalled by no human relationship we might experience.

The pandemic has been a challenge for all those people battling COVID-19 on the frontline and dental nurses are no exception.

With practices open, their job has been made more difficult with the additional PPE, stricter infection control protocols, and the handling of an increasing number of anxious patients who might nervous of the changes that have been made to their routine dental appointment.

In the upcoming issue of Dental Nursing, we hear from many of you who generously shared your experience of living through the pandemic with animals in your lives.

We also hear sadly from those who have loved and lost their pets and understand the true support they can offer both mentally and physically.

Here, two of those dental nurses share their stories…

Dental nurse Maja Jaslikowska found her work situation challenging during the first lockdown. She changed jobs and now work at Bath Orthodontics. She has two English springer spaniels – Bow, who is 10 years old, and Harper who is four months.

She says: ’I find there’s always more protocols being added to dental world, so it did take time to adjust to the new ways of working but I haven’t found it stressful. My dogs helped me during the pandemic, as they always bring me so much joy. Being able to go on long walks and seeing how happy they are wagging their tails, it definitely made things a lot easier for me mentally and physically.

Rebecca Power works as a dental nurse at an NHS hospital in the maxillofacial and orthodontic departments.

She says: ‘If I am completely honest, I haven't coped the best. It’s been a very stressful time for everyone and we have each had our highs and lows. I am extremely lucky that the team I work closely with are supportive and we are all willing to get stuck in. Arriving at work each day not knowing in what department we will be needed or what specified care we need to give can be really challenging, but we are hoping we can continue giving care to our patients in the safest possible way.’

Her grandmother lives in Ireland and a stray cat moved in with her and promptly had a litter of kittens. Rebecca says: ‘My lovely cat is called Pickles and is one of that litter, who we we brought home from Ireland. We don’t know exactly how old he is but it is somewhere in the region of 13 years old in human years.

‘Working long shifts in the hospital can be challenging and stressful. I travel for about an hour to work so, by the time I am home, I am shattered!

‘When I am walking up to my house I can see my kitty in the window waiting for me to come home and as soon, as I open the door his vocal chords go into overdrive!

‘Before I have a chance to take my shoes off, I sit on the floor with him and cuddle for five minutes and else nothing can happen before this little “catch up” time between us.

‘It has been scientifically proven that cats can be beneficial to their owner. These can range from lowering blood pressure, lowers stress levels, and the purr vibration can help to heal infections and help with pain relief.’

For more tales of animal magic, see the February issue of Dental Nursing journal out next week.

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