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In an ever-changing environment, the question of the meaning of care within a caring, ethical framework is of paramount importance. The development of a patient-centred approach relies on an understanding of the Other. Caring and empathy are the essential foundations of this approach. An attempt to analyze practices through a few notions of ethics can be proposed., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Sexuality in geriatrics poses ethical dilemmas, particularly for patients with cognitive disorders. What is the place of consent, presumption of competence and caregiver responsibility? A tool structuring these questions has facilitated collective decisions in the cognitive-behavioral unit to ensure respectful support for intimate relationships between patients. Ongoing reflection remains essential for optimal care., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The cardiac surgeon intervenes on a very symbolic and above all vital organ, whose failure is generally synonymous with death. He is therefore regularly exposed to death, whether it occurs in the operating room, in intensive care or, more rarely, in hospital. To date, no training is provided to these practitioners to better understand these dramatic and often brutal situations., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The experiences of carers and families of children with suspected shaken baby syndrome change throughout the care process. Elsa Girerd-Potin, a paediatric intensive care nurse for the past seven years at the Couple and Child Hospital in La Tronche, Isère, has followed some of these families. She explains to us how the stay in the intensive care unit of infants suffering from shaken baby syndrome unfolds, while sharing the difficulties of positioning that she may experience with their parents., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Caregivers are responsible for respecting the privacy of the elderly, who are more vulnerable. This requires an individual and collective professional reflection on the meaning of the practices. It is also about respecting the free choice of lifestyle by taking into account the needs of family caregivers., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Digital technology can be used as an effective means of improving students' quality of learning. This use goes beyond the need to adapt to this hyperconnected society., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

While the profession of advanced practice nurse has finally been codified, this new regulation raises issues. Today, nursing is no longer subject to altruistic ideology. Advanced practice nurses have real expertise which has consequences on their responsibility. It is essential to be fully aware of the legal framework in which they practise., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The shared decision is the one that a patient takes with his doctor. But when he can no longer express his will, the decision is made by the doctor after a collegial procedure. In this procedure, advance directives are consulted, the testimony of the person of trust taken into account, failing that of relatives. Complemented by consultation within the care team, the procedure is a shared approach in terms of reflection and ethical responsibility., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The ethics of 'care' invites us to found a concept of autonomy which is not disconnected from that of vulnerability. Originally arising from a 'feminine' gendered approach to morality, the notion of 'care' has become more extensive to define a more complex model of justice, inclined to show that there is no habitable world which does not involve the question of 'concern': in other words, it is only habitable on the condition of having been previously, and continuously, taken care of., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Caution and compassion are two terms which evoke the ambivalence of the care relationship, the proper distance to maintain, the empathy to put in place, the trust. It is also important for health professionals not to let themselves be overwhelmed by patients, who may themselves be overwhelmed by their disease., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Patients receive numerous care procedures which they may refuse for physical and/or psychological reasons, even if, sometimes, the consequences for them can be dramatic. Faced with this situation, caregivers are helpless. Only ethical reflection centred on their responsibility and their humanity can guide them towards the suitable attitude to adopt., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The question 'Who does my body belong to?' may at first seem strange. However, it highlights the complexity concealed by the very fact of corporeity, the place of existence and encounter between others and oneself., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

It appears that, to survive, all people need a commitment, whatever their motivations, their degree of involvement and the time they can dedicate to it. What does "commitment" really mean to nursing students?, (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The code of ethics for nurses highlights the values, principles and obligations which characterise our profession. It also emphasises the conditions required to enable nurses to perform their professional practice with the autonomy granted to them by the Public Health Code., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The implementation of telemedicine has drawn on numerous innovative initiatives and has required a legal framework to be established. Today, the various uses of this valuable 'connected tool' can be appropriated in order to improve access to care. It also improves cooperation between healthcare professionals scattered across the health region., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

How do we respect, and at the same time protect, people unable to look after their own interests alone, due to the impairment of their faculties? A solid knowledge base regarding the legal framework which is common to us all and which forms the foundation of our freedom is essential. French law, with regard to people losing their intellectual autonomy, notably in the case of neurodegenerative diseases, aims to respect patients' wishes while at the same time protecting them., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Compassionate care can appear ambiguous when subject to critical examination. The spotlight falls on the responsibility and activity of management with regard to policy guidance and the management of activities in the medical-social field. Discussion around this subject enables an assessment of current standards and ethical progress to be carried out., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The punitive culture of error erects a wall of silence between players in the care relationship. A positive culture of error, founded on a new ethical approach to the nurse-patient relationship, enables everyone to move beyond the illusion of medical infallibility and to cope better with the effects of an adverse event., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Developing safety in health care through the reporting of adverse events requires the establishment of a positive culture of error reporting. The implementation of a 'responsibility charter' motivates, empowers and professionalises caregivers in the analysis of their errors., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Neither nurses nor doctors receive initial training in wounds and the use of dressings. They are however required in their daily practice to provide this type of care. Advances in wound healing techniques and the appearance of "modern" dressings offer a wide range of solutions to caregivers. Professionals must acquire skills in this area and make the best possible use of the dressings at their disposal to optimise the controlled wound healing., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Ethics, by its definition, is a philosophical discipline which enables human beings to behave, to act and to be, in the best way possible, between themselves and towards their environment. In private nursing practice, the ethical dimension is based on personal reflection which enables each individual to adapt their attitude in order to act for the best., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Mental disorders lead patients along paths of irrationality. Insanity is perceived as excessiveness, often associated with violence. Risk in psychiatry is omnipresent and nursing practice is performed within a narrow safety zone. The media coverage of sensitive situations does not help. Ensuring the patient's recovery, respecting the fundamental principles of individual freedom while assuring the utmost safety of others is the constant challenge facing caregivers in psychiatry., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The evolution of the care relationship, which gives a growing place to the wishes of the patient, poses two sorts of questions to the teams on the clinical wards. How far should they go in order to respect these wishes when the patient's autonomy is diminished? Can the user's free choice be conceived as absolute, or must it be framed by collective rules governing medical practice and the functioning of the institution. Consequently, how can the rights and obligations of the players and users of the healthcare system be articulated?, (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)