Labelling theory and Stockwell’s seminal work on the unpopular patient can help inform nurses’ interactions with patients in the modern healthcare system. Today, older patients might be deemed unpopular because of their perceived personality, attitudes or communication, and because their needs fit poorly with the service available to them. These, and other factors, such as staffing levels, length of hospital stays, and patients’ expectations as consumers, help to influence what defines an unpopular patient.