At a time when healthcare establishments are facing sensitive financial and institutional challenges, how can ethics be given a place in psychiatry? In society, ethical debates focus on surrogate motherhood, active euthanasia or assisted suicide, and embryo research. In psychiatry, the question often crystallizes around violent incidents that are hardly representative of the daily lives of professionals and patients. Militant discourse prevails over listening to the people concerned. The law requires establishments to reflect on the ethical issues raised by the reception and medical care of patients, without specifying the boundaries. Ethics in healthcare facilities focuses on care situations - what is possible or desirable - with no single theoretical model to serve as an example to follow.