Fostering a therapeutic relationship with an individual or family over a long period can be one of the most rewarding aspects of nursing, but it isn’t always easy and requires clear and appropriate boundaries

On her 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 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.