After her divorce, Nikola Vollendorf moves to Cologne with her children Peter and Stephanie, where she takes a job as a nurse on the surgical ward of the Rheintalklinik. The head physician there, Dr. Robert Schmidt, is a surgeon who is as successful as he is self-absorbed, and the assistant doctors and nurses kowtow to him. Only Nikola stands up to him and never misses an opportunity to give the arrogant doctor a piece of her mind. Although neither of them would admit it, they actually respect each other's abilities. And so a private war develops between Nikola and Dr. Schmidt, which is also fought outside the hospital because, as luck would have it, Dr. Schmidt is the owner of the house where Nikola has her apartment.