You are the charge nurse of a nine-bed critical care unit. You have one open bed. The house supervisor calls and tells you that there are two patients who need a critical care bed. The first is a...

You are the charge nurse of a nine-bed critical care unit. You have one open bed. The house supervisor calls and tells you that there are two patients who need a critical care bed. The first is a 23-year-old woman currently in the operating room after multiple trauma. The second patient is a 78-year-old man who is in the emergency department with severe septic shock. According to the supervisor, both patients are going to need mechanical ventilation and inotropic therapy. What are your decisions and actions at this point? What ethical principles are your actions based on?