Care is subdivided into technical care and relational care. My observation is that technical care predominates over the other types of care. The favourable impact of a balanced care relationship on the anxiety of a pre-operative patient in ambulatory surgery has shown me that relational care is just as important and omnipresent. This relational care must be a priority in the mind of every carer, especially when the patient is anxious and in a waiting situation. The success of the therapeutic alliance between carer and patient depends on the quality of the relationship between the two partners, the patient and the carer.