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When undertaking a placement in health institutions, student nurses find themselves in the hands of caregivers whose role as tutors is to accompany them and evaluate them as part of their professional training. Are these two missions compatible? This is the first question asked in this paper where the role of the tutor is clarified in terms of its origins. Since then, the notion of empathy has gradually emerged as the quality necessary for exercising that role. This quality can be linked to the culture of humanism that underpins the very notion of what a hospital is, but is currently threatened by the emergence of economic logic. Will these two opposing cultures destabilize health professionals to the point where they decide to give up all tutoring activities? The issues explored here include the educational aspect of ensuring that awareness of others’ needs remains present in our societies in general, and especially in hospitals. At stake is the sustainability of the way in which nursing students are accompanied throughout their curriculum.