the ICU charge nurse and have just finished an exhausting 8 hours on duty. Working with you today are two nurses who work 8-hour shifts. Each of you were assigned two patients, all with high acuity levels. You are glad that you are going out of town tonight to attend an important seminar, because you are certainly tired. You are also pleased that you scheduled yourself an 8-hour shift today and that your replacement is coming through the door. You will just have time to give report and catch your plane. One of your patients is acutely ill with a fever of unknown origin and is in the isolation room. It is suspected that he has meningitis. Your other patient is a multiple trauma victim. In the middle of your report, the oncoming nurse says that she has just learned that she is pregnant. She says she cannot take care of a possible meningitis patient. You approach other nurses to change patients, and they respond angrily, "We took care of all kinds of patients when we were pregnant, and we are not changing patients. When you repeat this message to the oncoming nurse, she says, "Either change the patients or I go home!" Your phone call to the nursing office reveals that because of a flu epidemic, there are absolutely no personnel to call in, and all the other units are already short staffed.