Intensive carer

That most British of institutions, the Royal College of Nurses, is about to do battle with the Government over nurses' pay, yet their champion is a woman from Kentucky whose reputation is for possessing that most un-British characteristic... straight talking.

Cover me – I’m going ahead alone

You've struck out and set up your own business - but can you afford to insure yourself in case things go wrong? Part two in a series on insurance for different stages of life.

Is coffee really the devil’s brew?

Many of us can't start the day without it, but new research says it stops us working well. Oliver Burkeman searches for the truth about caffeine.

Cold chills

Turning up ill to look after sick people isn't a sensible idea, but is a new system of assessing days off scaring NHS staff into work?