Seems to me that the Christians on this board have got their underpants in a twist over the simple request that nurses stick to what they are employed to do - nursing. It's not rocket science, you know.

If I found out that any of the nurses or social workers on my team were using their position of power and authority to feed their religious or political views to any of the vulnerable and severely mentally ill individuals we are employed to care for, they would be in trouble, make no mistake. Their professional codes of conduct are sacrosanct and not open to random negotiation. You take on the job, you get paid for it, you can't then pick and choose which bits of the value base you think should apply to you.

This isn't because I'm some kind of politically correct spoilsport. It's because its the thin end of a very dodgy wedge. If I let Nurse A offer prayers to service users do I then let nurse B sell Socialist Worker? Or canvas votes for the National Front? Or offer an exorcism?

You may say haven't we got something better to deal with, but I would counter that the ethical issues around health and social care provision are pretty damned important to most of us working in the field. If we took the "common sense" approach and ditched them you really wouldn't like the results. Trust me.