People caring : negotiating the space between an ethic of caring and keeping your distance

We are particularly interested in raising the following questions. How do you care if you keep your distance? And what is this keeping your distance all about? What effects does this narrative have on the construction of care work and care workers, whether they are nurses, social workers, home care workers or physiotherapists, for example? Where does humanity fit into the essentially human professions? How can an ethic of care, based on relationships, be reinvigorated in practice? What is the place of professional development in engendering an ethic of care? In this chapter we explore these questions using our experiences and the experiences of others via research concerning the caring in health and social care.