This case questions the comparative moral permissibility of 2 different uses of force-actions done against a patient's will-in the course of that patient's care: covert medication administration and use of physical or chemical restraint. The commentary considers what constitutes the most compassionate use of force for this patient and how it should be implemented.Case CC is a nurse in a skilled nursing facility caring for BB, a patient with a history of aggression, paranoia, emotional dysregulation, and schizophrenia. BB typically refuses medication when hospitalized for acute exacerbations of illness and is unable to selfcare.DD is BB's legal guardian and has authorized haloperidol to be orally administered to BB mixed into and hidden in BB's food. CC has administered oral haloperidol to BB this way but is increasingly uncomfortable doing so.During an interdisciplinary team meeting, CC stated: "This kind of deception is generally viewed by everyone on the team as ethically questionable, probably since it is a kind of force, but I'm the only one who'll do it in order to avoid what's worse. If I don't, or if someone else doesn't hide the haloperidol in BB's food, BB gets an intramuscular (IM) injection, which is worse. When BB gets IM injections, administration of BB's meds gets delayed. We have to wait for multiple security guards to arrive on the unit to help restrain BB. It's loud, disruptive, distressing, and upsetting for everyone-BB, other patients, us-especially when it happens over and over again. If using force on this patient is going to be routine, we need to be executing it better. I mean, is there even a policy or a protocol about how we should be doing this? We need a plan that doesn't involve me being the only one relegated to doing the 'dirty work' of deception to spare BB the repeated physical trauma."Members of the team wondered how to respond.