Introduction Healthcare is one of the most complex workplaces, which involves medical help and communication support. Following Joan Toronto (1993), “there is a smooth interconnection between caring about, taking care of, care giving, and care receiving, in reality there is likely to be conflict within each of these phases and between them”. Taking into account healthcare field and the experience of a human service in the field of aged care, there is no conflict between these concepts because the nursing functions and duties involve and imply caring about, taking care of and care giving. Main body Historically and traditionally the majority of sick and injured people were cared for by human services. Eventually early hospitals emerged that provided services for those who had no home or family, including orphans, soldiers, travelers, the impoverished, nuns and monks (religious orders), and in some cases the insane. In this situation, there is no conflict between the three concepts because of them are closely connected and interrelated. Managed care for elderly involves caring about, taking care of and care giving. The tasks and duties of healthcare professionals is to help the aged people to prevent and cope with illness despite cultural or social background. Today, nurses have as much independent moral responsibility for their actions (as they have independent legal responsibility, and are just as accountable for their practice morally as they are legally (Altman et al 1999 ). This, in turn, places at unacceptable risk the welfare interests and wellbeing of patients who may, in some circumstances, be dependent on nurses to protect their welfare interests. Nurses must be accorded the recognition and legitimated authority necessary to enable them to fulfill their many and complex responsibilities as professionals bound by agreed standards of care. It is important for members of the medical profession to realize that nurses do have independent moral responsibilities (and, it should be added, legal responsibilities) when caring for patients and, indeed, can be (and have been) held independently accountable for their actions. It is neither reasonable nor fair to expect nurses to ignore or violate their demonstrable responsibilities to patients and to practice below an acceptable standard of care (Ackley, 1997). In aged care field, the difference between three concepts does not exist because the potential for nursing to effectively assist with community problems, both disease-related and social, is undeniable, and the advantages of community-based care are numerous: ease in accessibility; services and care that are sensitive to religious, racial, and cultural norms; community participation in the identification of needs; and increased comprehensive services through collaboration with social service agencies. An additional factor with centers affiliated with universities or schools of nursing is their use as sites for clinical experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students (Ackley, 1997). To avoid hurting the feelings of others, and to ensure that we are being respectful, these options should be made as suggestions for their consideration. Healthcare profe