Ramos (1992) has shown that too much emotional involvement from the nurse is non-productive for both parties. Yet, the clients in this study hoped that nurses would share intimate information with them within the ‘ordinary-me’ domain. The client up to this point may have been the sole provider of information within the relationship with the nurse or other health care professional. As time passes the client will not want to give any more to a one-sided relationship. Titmus (1973) described gift relationships within which there is a significant obligation to give and to repay. Time passing in relation to acts of giving and receiving implies the notion of credit in that the nurse then owes the client a return gift, which, in this case, is an exchange of personal information. Nurses operating within the ordinary-me domain are happy to tell the client about themselves just as friends would be comfortable to share knowledge and confide in each other. However, some nurses spoke about too much knowledge about the client as a person being a burden on their emotional budget, encouraging them to relate to the client on a more professional level at times.