Fostering a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship with someone over a long period can prove to be one of the joys of nursing, however it is not always easy and requires clear boundaries

On her very first nursing placement two decades ago, Caroline Whitton met a patient on a surgical ward who had cystic fibrosis. She cared for him again on her emergency department (ED) placement, and then on the respiratory ward. She later cared for the man as an outpatient in her capacity as cystic fibrosis nurse at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust until he died last spring.