Even though I work as a psychiatric nurse, I do a lot of other things in the course of the average day at work.
Like passing out condoms.
I'm a firm believer in preventative medicine. It's a lot easier to prevent contagious diseases than it is to deal with the consequences once they've taken root in a population. Since most of my patients aren't in the most stable of circumstances to begin with, the last thing they need is a serious infection or an unexpected family member.
As part of this philosophy, I pass out lots of condoms to the therapists, crisis team, caseworkers, etc. I'm much more tactful about this now than I was when I first embarked on this project.
"Sheryl, would you like some condoms to give your patients who may not be making the best lifestyle choices?" is a much better way to initiate the safer sex conversation with a co-worker than:
"Hey Sheryl, want some condoms?"
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