ABSTRACT
I have been in a state of some trepidation since I agreed to write this commentary. I find I am concerned about being honest whilst capturing the complexity that comes with the in-patient nurse role. It would be easy to focus on negative events and emotions as these are the ones that immediately spring to mind – the difficult times with what seems an overwhelming tide of need and little felt in the way of resources, when my friends and colleagues would ask why I was ‘still on the wards’, as if it was some sort of failure of will or ability. Yet to say only this would detract from the nurturing team cohesion you can get on wards, or the immediate, buzzy high from dramatically helping someone, or the intimate ward ‘banter’, which usually consists of dark humour, or the real positive human presence that ‘patients’ can have and the warm relationships you can develop.
