[The problems of the form of address Du vs. Sie between nurses and patients in Germany]

This article is an overview of selected nursing and linguistic literature examining the use of the pronoun Du vs. Sie in Germany. The aim of this literature review is to show the difficulties faced when one is choosing a form of address and relate these difficulties to the daily nursing routine. This overview will show clearly that the choice of pronoun can "form social reality". Linguistic literature distinguishes two dimensions: One is the vertical dimension (power semantic) which shows the unequal relationship of the speaker and the listener. The other is the horizontal dimension (solidarity semantic) which shows the equality of the talking partners. The analysis of nursing literature brought to light that the choice of form of address should be considered with regard to the aspects power, familiarity vs. distance, distain vs. respect.