When nurses are asked what job they do, the tone is often subdued and respectful. The other person will then say with some certainty: “I couldn’t do that, because there is so much suffering.” That is partly true. At the same time, however, there are endless funny situations and cheerfulness in everyday care. The author shows how to Use humour when dealing with patients. Patients find humour helpful A study of what patients want from caregivers found that they often find humour helpful. It creates distance to current fear and worry. Patients feel particularly accepted and valued as people when nurses meet them with humour or respond to their jokes. The following example, told by a health and nursing student in the second year of training: “During delusional thinking, a 40-year-old woman jumped out of a window and came to the hospital with multiple fractures. She was on strict bed …