In the development of nursing as a profession there is a need for nurses to discuss the strategies they use to meet the emotional demands of the nurse-patient relationship. These demands have changed over time. Hochschild's definition of emotional labour is used as a means to understand the content of nurses' emotional work. It is important that positive and supportive ward atmospheres are experienced by beginning nurse practitioners while they learn to cope with the emotional work involved in nursing. Emotional labour continues to be a very challenging aspect of nursing practice.