Is there some exemption paper that you can get to allow dogs where they are not normally allowed ?

My sister who lives in Maine brought her dog when she visited my uncle in a nursing home in New Jersey. When the nurse told her that she could not have the dog inside the nursing home she told the nurse, " But he has papers that allow it, he has his papers you have to allow it " Are there any kind of papers that a person could get in Maine, that would allow them to bring a ordinary house pet dog into a nursing home in New Jersey.