Purpose: To introduce the articles in this special issue, discussing emotion in the in health-care organisations.
Design/methodology/approach: Discusses such topics as what makes health care different, editorial perspectives, how health care has explored emotion so far, and the impact of emotion on patients and the consequences for staff.
Findings: Health care provides a setting that juxtaposes emotion and rationality, the individual and the body corporate, the formal and the deeply personal, the public and the private, all of which must be understood better if changes in expectations and delivery are to remain coherent.
Originality/value: The papers indicate a shared international desire to understand meaning in emotion that is now spreading across organizational process and into all professional roles within health care.