This course discusses the meaning of Ethics in Action as a practical approach to understanding issues that arise in human interaction. First, it focuses on what counts as an ethical matter and suggests that moral concerns extend beyond major social conflicts, public policy struggles, and life and death issues to ordinary daily happenings that more typically affects persons who live and work in nursing homes. Second, attention turns to the application of Ethics in practice. This includes perceptions about the nature and intent of ethical deliberation as well as different analytical approaches that may be used. Third, contextual considerations that affect the understanding of resident-focused cases are discussed as they relate to the work world of staff, organizational subcultures, and universal moral concerns. Finally, frame works for thinking about practical resident focused issues are offered as ways to facilitate assessment, from an ethical point of view, of the situations institutionalized persons with Dementia encounter.
