DSST Ethics in America case studies

DSST Ethics in America · Put your knowledge to work in context.

The DSST Ethics in America exam is a credit-by-examination test in the DSST (DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) program, a family of exams that lets learners earn college credit for knowledge acquired outside a traditional classroom. DSST exams are delivered through Prometric, a global assessment provider that describes itself as "a global leader in credentialing and skills development" with "30 years of expertise, innovation, and industry-leading solutions to create pathways for tomorrow's workforce." Candidates typically take DSST exams to satisfy general-education or elective requirements at participating institutions, to accelerate a degree, or to demonstrate subject mastery for employers or professional programs. The DSST Ethics in America case studies are 5 cases and about 3,395 words.

The Leaked Sterilization Logs

You edit a 48,000-circulation city daily. A 58-year-old surgical nurse gives you 300 pages of internal incident reports documenting 11 unreported surgical-site infections over 14 months, plus sterilization logs that the chief of surgery appears to have altered.

710 words, about 4 min 2

Two Ventilators, Four Patients

You chair the ethics committee at a 220-bed community hospital. A substation fire has cut the region's power, and the hospital has two working ventilators but four patients who could survive with one.

712 words, about 4 min 3

Siting the Transfer Station

You are one of seven council members in a town of 26,000. A regional waste-transfer station must be sited somewhere in the county, and only two parcels in your town are zoned for it.

725 words, about 4 min 4

The 0.4% Failure

You are VP of sales at a medical-device company with 180 million in revenue. Field data show that a glucose sensor in the company's flagship infusion pump fails to alarm in 0.4% of uses over five years; three malfunctions have been reported, no deaths, and the device meets the FDA-approved specification, which does not mention this failure mode.

726 words, about 4 min 5

Juror Number Four

You are Juror 4 in a capital murder trial. The evidence is strong: a cooperating eyewitness, DNA on the defendant's jacket, and a confession given after 19 hours of interrogation.

522 words, about 3 min