Cheating

Nursing Students General Students

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Hypothetical situation....

Student A and student B are friends, obviously both in nursing school. Both hold themselves in the top of the class. Students have to give a teaching project in class and have 3 months warning to do so. Student A has theirs done the first week, student B waited until the week before it was do to start. Student B asks student A what to do it on, Student A says "I did a project in another class regarding something you are interested in. Let me send it to you so that you can look at it and get some ideas."

Harmless so far

Fast forward to day of presentation

Student A is in the audience......Student B opens presentation (Powerpoint) it is Student A's Presentation. The ONLY difference is student B adds 3-4 slides. This is the same down to the background used.

Ethical dilemma ensues......

Would you

A ---- Freak out inside but not tell the instructor

or

B ---- Tell the instructor so that you are not "caught" in a plagiarism mess and risk your spot in the nursing program

Thanks for the advice

BTW.....I am student A

Thats a hard one.... I would probably choose A and have a good talk with the student and never offer such help to those students. Plus, it might come in handy to have a bit of dirt on a fellow student lol :D

I agree I would probably pick A and then not help them again or at least not show them any of my previous work. If it does come that the teacher finds out. Your power point presentation should have a file date that shows when you created it. Just make sure to keep it handy.

I would take a look at your school's honor code. Most say something to the effect of, if you know that someone cheated and don't report it...you are equally guilty of cheating.

Add to this the fact that she used your work...well, I think B is the only way to both do the right thing and protect your spot.

Student B has put you in this situation and should have nothing to say about how you resolve it....

I'm guessing you don't want to throw your friend under the bus, and I get that, however....she wasn't thinking about your friendship when she stole your work, why would you justify NOT doing the right thing and risk your integrity (never mind your seat in NS) by saying you don't want to implicate a "friend."

Specializes in LTC, case mgmt, agency.
I would take a look at your school's honor code. Most say something to the effect of, if you know that someone cheated and don't report it...you are equally guilty of cheating.

Add to this the fact that she used your work...well, I think B is the only way to both do the right thing and protect your spot.

Student B has put you in this situation and should have nothing to say about how you resolve it....

I'm guessing you don't want to throw your friend under the bus, and I get that, however....she wasn't thinking about your friendship when she stole your work, why would you justify NOT doing the right thing and risk your integrity (never mind your seat in NS) by saying you don't want to implicate a "friend."

I agree with the above. Also depending on how close you are, you may want to give student B a heads up and tell that " friend " how you feel. Obviously, this person did not consider your friendship when they did this but we're talking about your future too.

Sounds like a real sticky situation. Sorry your in such a dilema. I wish you the best and keep us posted............:typing

Specializes in LTC, case mgmt, agency.
I agree with the above. Also depending on how close you are, you may want to give student B a heads up and tell that " friend " how you feel. Obviously, this person did not consider your friendship when they did this but we're talking about your future too.

Sounds like a real sticky situation. Sorry your in such a dilema. I wish you the best and keep us posted............:typing

I was not able to edit to clarify. So this friend did not think about your future in nursing ( school ) when they chose to plagerize your work. How long had/have you been friends? So, your stuck between not telling on a friend and sticking up for yourself it seems.

Well, after I got my heart out of my stomach (can't imagine how you felt when you saw that--sorry!)....I would tell the instructor FOR SURE. You have to look out for yourself first. A true friend would not do that, so if you are worried that you are being disloyal to your 'friend' by telling the instructor---there's no loyalty there on her part...soooo.....

You are obviously a very kind person to have offered help to her. Don't let her or anyone else take advantage of your kindness again---don't share anything with anyone! Sounds harsh, but you are the only one who is truly looking out for you.

I wouldn't say a thing to your 'friend'--she knows what she did. I would distance myself from her.

Again, I'm so sorry.

honestly, someone who steals my work is not my friend...she put you in a position to lose everything u worked for...that is not the description of a friend..I would advise u to do B...tell the prof. before it comes back to u..plagerism is serious and it could get u kicked out...in the end if u dont tell, u will be just as wrong as she is....especially if the prof notices the similarity in ur reports. The first question she will ask is, "if u know she stole ur work why didn't u report it".....and remember NEVER give anyone ur work...hth

Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

i'm sorry this happened to you, student a. let me be direct and firm... this is not a cartoon or a sitcom this is the real world. you could end up being kicked out of nursing school for this incident! let us pretend you choose option a... what if student c-who you did not mention-decides out of jealousy or whatever reason to tell on you both then you will go down with the ship. don't think others won't find out or don't already know because student b probably has a big mouth!

to be honest, i do not care how long i was friends with someone; if that person plagiarized my work to complete an assignment the only thing i could think about is the possibility of failing out of nursing school. btw, in my state, the bon can decide not to issue me a license if i somehow graduated from another program but was kicked out of my original one due to an ethical issue. not to mention ethical issues do not have an expiration date for punishment at my school. in other words, if i graduate and it is later found out that this happened i can have my degree and license revoked-no joke! therefore, if i were in your shoes i would tell the instructor in a professional way before notifying student b.

trust me when i say that you will not need to protect student b. student b will not think of student a when she lies to defend herself. in fact, prepare yourself that student b will not go down without a fight! so, if what you say is true, you need to present that proof to the instructor during your meeting. best of luck to you.... :twocents:

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

student a. . .keep your mouth shut because you are guilty by association, pray very hard that no one else notices the plagiarism, and have nothing more to do with student b ever again.

Not sure why you gave your presentation to the other student...that was way to tempting for them and I'm sure you could have helped w/o giving them all your work. Sorry this happened to you, but if people wait until the last minute to start, they aren't really holding themself to as high a standard as you think, and they need to do their own work from start to finish...

BTW if your student "A" how is the situation hypothetical?

I would choose option B as to not put myself in any trouble if it is found out. If it it comes out, it is going to seem as if both students were in cahoots on this. Student B is bold. I've learned that you have to protect yourself. Student A should have never sent B her previous work. People these days are only out for self. And I agree with the person that said student B was never a friend in the first place.

I don't entertain the cheating stuff. I had a student tell me that she was going to sit near me on upcoming exams. I quickly shut the situation down by firmly telling her that I am not getting dropped from the program. And that was that. Never heard any nonsense out of her again. I just don't get it. The policy on cheating is clearly spelled out. If you are having trouble, instructors will help you. The only help they will give you if they catch you cheating is help out of the door of the program. It is really not worth it.

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