You work as a medical assistant at Good Samaritan Home and overhear the nursing aides talking about their inappropriate actions. Define and choose one of the following ethical approaches and explain how it would help you decide what action to take: virtuebased, consequential, or duty-based?

If you are listening in to a conversation that may be the first infraction. However, if there are some misgivings that are not with the proper order of things there are a few routes of virtue ethics to be taken.

Virtue Based: This is based on doing a good deed rather than looking at the person involved. A person who lives a virtue based life lives a life of action and does good deeds for others in any circumstance. If you hear about inappropriate actions by someone else you may intervene and explain, without blame or judgement, the right actions they should be taking.
Consequence Based: This involves a hard line of what is right and wrong. If an action is right it is aligned with the law and if is is wrong it is not. This route will have the nurses prosecuted by higher authorities.
Duty Based: Holds the listener responsible for the subsequent action based on their job capacity, training and and job requirements. As a trained personnel in the medical field, if you saw some discrepancies that allowed you to step in and take action, it is incumbent on you to do so.

Overall, it takes great discretion to know what is the next step to be taken. If you're unsure seek advice from a trusted person.