One of the oldest rules in nursing is the one about self disclosure. A Professional distance must be kept at all times. I generally subscribe to this notion. But not always. Not quite and I will tell you why. Recently I had a patient who had been admitted for symptom control . Often these patients need a short sharp bout of medical and nursing care to alleviate problems before going home again. They are still dying, but the end is not quite in full sight. I nursed my patient on consecutive nights and so we quite quickly developed a rapport and an understanding how things needed to be done. I am an efficient nurse who doesn’t fanny arse around and she appreciated this. In between turns and medications and dressings she asked me direct questions about my life and I got the impression she wasn’t being nosey, she was just being interested , interested in something that wasn’t her life of carers and of cancer and of isolation and of dying. She fed on the n...
