No one should expect someone else to be a Good Samaritan (GS). The entire idea of a GS is someone who unexpectedly and magnanimously aided someone without cause or request. The classic example from the Bible involves a man near death being helped by another man for no reason. The GS had no obligation to help the dying man, nor was he asked to do so. If someone is obligated, for personal or political reasons, to help, their actions are not considered GS-ly. For instance, a doctor helping a patient is not an example of someone being a GS. Similarly, a doctor helping a stranger who is having a medical emergency is not an example of a GS. That is because a good doctor is not only expected to help sick people in pretty much any instance, but there is also a level of personal obligation when working in healthcare. Of course, that may not always be the case.
It wasn't the case in the situation we discussed in class: a woman in a nursing home who died due to a nurse unwillingness to break, a perhaps little known, policy. This situation is sad, but not illegal. However, neither of these things matter when looking at the concept of a GS. Obviously no one in the situation ended up being a GS. However, who would have been if they'd done something. Just as the nurse did nothing "wrong" by not acting, she would not have been a GS. This is because she has a reason for acting in both manners. For not acting, she has company policy backing her up. For acting, she would have the moral code and personal obligation that members of the medical community have. The only person who could have been a GS is a either an unrelated member of the housing or a random person off the street. Ultimately, no one in the situation was a GS because they were following orders, rules, or obligations and not acting out of "the goodness of their hearts."
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