Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Who would you save?

This is an assignment for my nursing ethics class. I want some opinions. Please tell me how you decided.

I will post what I submitted in a few days.

You have a vaccine that cures AIDS. But you only have 7. Who do you choose?

1) A 15 year old African American female was exposed to the virus through her 14 year old boyfriend. She comes from a two parent, middle class family, attends junior high school and is the fifth of nine children.
2) A 52 year of Caucasian business executive and father of four, recently released from a federal penitentiary where he served two years for insider trading on the bond market, contracted the virus during a minor medical procedure in the prison hospital. Currently, he is doing 1000 hours of community service teaching job skills and money management to inner city youths.
3) A 35 year old Hispanic mother of one child, 5 years of age, was exposed to the virus during an emergency blood transfusion. She has been happily married to her second husband for three years ( her first husband, the girl's father, left the community and maintains no contact with either of them).
4) A 40 year old single African United Nations refugee settlement worker is responsible for placing thousands of refugee children from war torn countries in permanent adoptive families. A member of an African tribe that practices polygamy, he was exposed to the virus through one of his mates. He has many children by a number of women.
5) A 23 year old single Caucasian female is training to become an Olympic athlete. Her family has made great sacrifices so that she might reach her full potential as an athlete. She is concerned that if she does not get the vaccine, she will not be able to repay them for the sacrifices they have made.
6) A 38 year old single Asian male is one of the few artists to have survived the persecution in his homeland and he seeks to perpetuate the artistic traditions of his people.
7) A 72 year old mother, grandmother and wife is the sole caretaker of her 76 year old husband who has severe arthritis.
8) A 49 year old white woman with four children (one of whom is developmentally disabled) is from an upper middle class background and was probably exposed to the virus during an extramarital affair.
 9) A 56 year old Hispanic male, with a wife and seven children, was also most likely exposed to the virus during an extramarital affair. He is a machinist and the sole support of his family.
10) A 20 year old single college student majoring in education has no idea how she became exposed to the virus and has not told her family that she tests positive for HIV.
11) An 18 month old baby was exposed to the virus through his mother, who has a full blown case of AIDS. His father has already died of the disease.
12) A 49 year old clergyman is the spiritual guide to the congregants of the largest church in the state. He has blessed thousands of babies, presided over hundreds of weddings and funerals, and provided solace and support to countless persons who needed it.
13) A 29 year old house husband takes care of a house and three children while his wife attends medical school and works part-time as a lab technician.
14) A 56 year old single Caucasian genetic researcher is close to completing work on finding a cure for diabetes, which has a good possibility to ultimately resulting in the perfection of a gene-altering procedure that would rid us of the scourge of diabetes.

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