Being generally averse to using public restrooms, I try to avoid using those at the hospital that are situated in high traffic areas. I'm talking about the restroom next to the main elevators, cafeteria or in the main lobby. I usually like the ones that are located in restricted areas or remote corners of the hospital. I consider that one of the few perks of being a physician.
Today, I just wanted to wash my hands and entered for the very first time the women's restroom located right next to the emergency room, which I conjecture to be quite busy.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a condom dispenser next to the sink!!! What an unlikely and perhaps even inappropriate place for one. Would this be in the event of extra long waits at the ER? Before a visit with your convalescent loved one (and hoping for a private room)? A quick romp in the doctors' lounge? Hospital parking lot adventures? Special Physical Therapy?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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14 comments:
Well if you work at Seattle Grace (Grey's Anatomy) I would suspect it is a busy little dispenser! :) Someone asked in one of the blogs last year if it was true that there was sex in the hospitals. Basically if there is an empty room/closet with a door-there is opportunity and so condom machine might not be a bad idea. Your right about the parking lot. Cars go a rockin there too. Special PT? I can imagine it being a looong sign up list. :)
Seriously, I think given the traffic in a busy bathroom by the ER that it is a good idea. By the sink? Cleanliness first?
P.S. I almost always opted to to use the bathrooms two wings away over in administration whenever possible. Hence I hardly drank much while working so I wouldn't have to. Sometimes I'd use the cardiac room bath only 2 doors away if empty although I did worry if someone was suddenly rushed in there and then I pop out of the bathroom. Never happened though. :)The ER waiting room bath could get kind of funky though.
I have a question that's totally unrelated to this post. I was wondering if you could give me a run down of the roll that the PAs run in your practice. No need to write an entry or anything. If you prefer you can respond with a comment on your, or my blog, or e-mail me at DrHouseDO@gmail.com OR you could just ignore me. I wouldn't be offended.
Thanks!
Laughter may be the best medicine, but guess what makes the short (ahem) list for second-best?
The more available condoms for our ER clientele, the merrier. Most of these young people who use the ER as their primary care clinic are d/c'd home, so, in my opinion, a d/c home with a condom is a better than a d/c home without.
Ha ha ha, the condom topic aside...
I've always enjoyed the specialness of using bathrooms that are little known to the general hospital public. For example, I used to enjoy using the little bathroom in the shut-down wing of what used ot be the ICU. No one ever used that bathroom, yet it's cleaned meticulously by the housekeeping staff everyday. What's even better was that when I'd wake up from a night of call, and I can use that bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my makeup in PEACE!
This topic reminds me of the Scrubs episode where the janitor installed a "secret" toilet on the roof out in the open and it was his place to think and achieve clarity of mind.
Of course as secrets in a hospital go...there ended up being a line going all the way up the stairwell to use the "secret" toilet. Michael J. fox was in that episode.
Everyone wanted privacy and their epiphany moment. :)
Wow. Of all the places for a condom dispenser...I guess it makes sense on some level, but the fact that anybody would consider a hospital to be a great place to have sex in makes me a bit nervous about people's common sense.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones Dr Keagirl. :)
You had me cracking up.."extra long waiting in the ER" I can't imagine putting a dispenser there. If you're in the ER - who the heck is "in the mood?" :)
The bathrooms that I use at the hospital I go to real often are absolutely spotless. They are very frequently cleaned and everything is activated with motion sensors so everything tends to stay fairly clean anyway. Even the ones near the main elevators and the ones in the ER are spotless.
Have a chat with the OB docs. More than one has told me they've gone into a room to give discharge instructions to a new mom, only to discover that part of the instructions were too late.
No wonder they have dispensers in the ER.
One of the best bits of graffiti I've ever seen was on a condom dispenser in a public restroom. Someone wrote "Boy this gum tastes funny" on it.
Actually, in an ER restroom, I have a feeling dispensers with some gum, deodorant, etc. would be welcomed by staffers for use with certain patients ...
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