What would you do?

Betty, the chief nursing officer, had to make a decision about buying 120 new hospital beds for patient rooms. After she interviewed nurse mangers at the units where the beds were going to be placed, Betty compiled her findings and decided to contact a well-known equipment company to obtain prices and contracts. The equipment company’s executive salesperson, Jim, discussed options at length with her and invited her and her significant other to an upcoming all-expenses-paid lavish retreat at a five-star hotel in Hawaii to see demonstrations of the beds and to hear a comprehensive sales pitch. Betty thought to herself, “We badly need some relaxation and stress relief. Hawaii would be so much fun. Would it be wrong for us to go?”

• If you were Betty, what would you do? Give your rationale. Justify your answer with an ethical framework—a theory, approach, or principle.
• Do you consider this situation a conflict of interest? Why or why not? Give your rationale.
• What policies, if any, should be in place regarding a scenario such as this one? Do you have any such policies in place at work for similar situations? Do such policies impact day-to-day activities in any way? Explain.