Nursing Student Unethical Behavior

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Hello,

The reason I have originated this topic is that I've just discovered an instance of highly unethical behavior in a nursing student, which perhaps could, and should, get her expelled. Apparently she taking a nursing research course. Yet, she is soliciting assistance in finding peer-reviewed articles for her research topic. This is a BSN-level class; yet, she is too lazy to do her own research. I have a copy of the email she sent out, which was forwarded to me. I believe that her university should be informed, or even the commission which accredits her university. I don't think she should be soliciting such assistance or obtaining the services of others to write her paper. The idea that she might do so with impunity makes me furious, to say the least.

It's not my decision, of course, but I don't think that people who would act in this manner should be allowed to graduate. I have been a registered nurse since 2010. Fortunately, I recently obtained employment as an RN, but many people who graduated before and after me have not been so lucky. Recent surveys on the nursing workforce corroborate that this is, perhaps, the worst time in history for new graduate nurses to get a job. Please advise me if her actions sound like something that any nursing program would object to. I can supply additional information about this (her email) if required.

the reason i have originated this topic is that i've just discovered an instance of highly unethical behavior in a nursing student, which perhaps could, andshould, get her expelled. apparently she taking a nursing research course. yet, she is soliciting assistance in finding peer-reviewed articles

let me understand what you are saying, a student is asking for assistance and you feel she should be expelled.

oklay, tell us exactly what assistance this student is asking for and what is the rationale for the assistance -- does the student not understand the assignment; does the student not know how to locate peer reviewed studies; or ?

from what i hear, you believe she should be expelled from the program because this student asked for help.

what i know is this: there are some universities that offer bsn nursing reserach classes that are poor examples of what the class should be. in fact, i know of one research class that is single handedly responsible for bsn student not going to graduate school because the class was so poorly organized, the book worse, and the instructor too lazy to get a new book and redo the powerpoint/lectures. it is possible the student is from this class or one very similar.

as for my input, i would not agree with your findings.

you have no basis whatsoever for assuming the class is not well organized. as she states, her work will have to pass a review board. in a nursing research class, the point is that the student needs to (duh) do his or her own research. what she is asking for can be obtained via her university library, or even a google search. in fact, it took me 5 minutes to find dozens of appropriate articles. below is the email. anyone who reads it should find it clear that she understands the assignment, but that she doesn't want to bother looking for references herself. she has not indicated any attempt whatsoever to find articles, where she looked, etc.

this is a request for help in finding articles related to giving live stock antibiotics prophylactically.

I happen to know where her friend went to nursing school. The person in question may or may not be a student there. I've decided to contact that university and leave it to them to decide whether or not this requires disciplinary action.

Incidentally, I got pretty tired of having nursing students, before and after I graduated, ask me to write their papers and/or find articles for them. I've also worked in groups where one or more of the members blatantly plagiarized. Doing any of these things is, in fact, grounds for expulsion at my university.

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

do you know unequivalently that this student is doing no research of her own accord? that letter may be simply one more avenue of

information seeking. i used to get my information from a great many sources, including picking the brains of the many physicians and nurses

in my family. that was not my only source and not a source i included in my biblio, but one nonetheless. i have a feeling you would

disapprove.

it seems to me that you are far too upset over this. what else is going on?

Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I'm confused. The assignment is to find research articles? Or is it to digest them and report on them?

I've done quite a bit of research both in school and professionally. I use things from whatever sources I can find, including asking other people if they know of articles that fit my topic. How is this different than asking a librarian to do a search for relevant articles? Librarians do that often for people who are doing research. Then the researcher uses the articles to write what needs to be written.

Unless the assignment includes finding the articles, I think you're going a bit over the top in thinking the other student should be expelled. Besides, what you quoted was someone else's request on her behalf.

Like Kathy, above, asked, what else is going on?

What else is going on? There doesn't have to be anything else going on. Saying something like that is condescending. Like I said, we are supposed to do our own research, and I personally have been approached far too many times to do someone else's work. If the nursing profession is weeding people out, they should first of all eliminate people who are violating school policies, since they are not likely to be diligent nurses either.

Incidentally, I have a Facebook thread going on about this, and other nurses who have posted there agree with me. All research projects at the university level involve finding the articles. Perhaps you have forgotten this. Asking a librarian for search tips is always acceptable. That's not the same as sending a mass email asking for help in your research. If people here have been doing the same thing, you have gotten away with doing something that you shouldn't. Happens all the time.

It looks like no one here has read her original email. She is doing a public policy research project. YES...a person doing so at the undergraduate level is supposed to do their own research. What have so many of you forgotten here? They are supposed to learn to do this. If they get others to do it, there is no learning. Yet they get the BSN.

Reposted from Facebook, with author's permission:

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"For nursing students to be asking people to find them research articles is really defeatng the purpose of teaching them about the research process and literature review that is involved. This is really a shame. In the midst of doing research, allocating articles and books in the library, there is a lot of learning taking place…one can not substitute."

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

What is your personal stake in this, I wonder? And how did you come by the student's e-mail in the first place? If you were her professor, I could see a reason why her e-mail was forwarded to you, and I can even understand that you'd have issues with her research methods. But unless you ARE her professor or you personally have witnessed her committing an unethical act, you are getting into areas that really are none of your business, and you could wind up on the wrong end of legal action should you continue in this vein. Casting aspersions against another's reputation without solid grounds for it tends to be be frowned upon.

Frankly, I think you realize this as well, since your tone when other posters question your motives is quite defensive. So again, unless there is something illegal going on OR you are one of this student's instructors, you would do well to ask yourself why this is such a problem for you and what is to be gained by pursuing it further.

ETA: For what it's worth, I'm not sure why this student doesn't simply Google this stuff for herself......it's not rocket science. But while it certainly seems to me to be the lazy way out, I don't see anything illegal or unethical in asking for assistance.

I see no difference in soliciting assistance from others on a project for school and doing the same for a project on the job, as long as she is not getting the others to write the paper for her. I think you are overdoing your due diligence in tending to this student's business.

She sent the email all over the place, and asked her friend to forward it. That should be obvious. And just because people here are defending her egregious behavior doesn't make it right. Shame on you guys. Your ethical standards are really, really low.

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