Step 1: Review the following scenario and answer the questions.

You have a four-bed intensive care unit and seven patients who need a bed. The following is a short description of the seven patients. You cannot select on the basis of first come, first served, as they showed up at your door at exactly the same time.

Jones, a 75-year-old pulmonary patient with chronic emphysema. He is retired and has a DNR order.
Cho, a 27-year-old hemophiliac patient with AIDS contracted from a transfusion of contaminated blood.
Rogers, a 65-year-old retired general with congestive heart failure.
Rankin, a 52-year-old housewife, an alcoholic with acute liver disease.
Reubin, a 23-year-old college student in a persistent coma following an alcohol/drug overdose at a party.
Carlton Child, a 12-year-old with head trauma and in a persistent vegetative state, following a beating by his stepfather.
Joey Scoy, a teenager suffering from aspiration pneumonia. He has Down syndrome and is severely intellectually disabled, with a mental age of five years.

Select your four patients, and state what criteria you used to exclude the other three. What ethical codes did you take into consideration? What healthcare values did you take into consideration? How did you consider quality of life vs. life itself? What legal obligations did you take into consideration?