It's Not Just Work Anymore

I’ve always been proud of my role as a nurse. It’s an incredibly rewarding profession that lets me help people through some of the most difficult moments in their lives. But lately, something feels off. There’s this one patient, a man I’ll call Mark, he’s forty and has been dealing with a long-term condition for years. At first, it was just professional compassion, but now...now there's something else. When he looks at me, I feel my pulse quicken, and when we're alone in his room, the air is thick with tension that goes beyond patient care. It’s driving me crazy because every time I leave work, I can’t stop thinking about him in a way that feels so inappropriate. Is this okay? Can you have feelings for a patient like this, even if they’re mutual and no words have been exchanged? Or am I overthinking things, and it's just the stress getting to me?