academic dishonesty issue

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Okay so I am in my second year of college and I just got accepted in to the school of nursing. Two weeks ago for my art history class i was assigned to write a paper which entailed a visit to a museum in new york ( i live in ct). Long story short, i didnt have time to make it to the museum so i went online to the gallery's website and wrote my paper on objects that i looked at online. Come to find out that one of the objects i wrote about was not on display at the museum, only online. I got an email from my teacher two weeks later telling me that i did not visit the museum and have therefore committed academic dishonesty. She gave me a zero for the assignment which is ten percent of my grade and i now have a permanent record in my file. I met with someone from the school of nursing and she emphasized that this was a big concern for the school of nursing etc etc. I was just wondering is this going to affect my progress in nursing school or even job opportunities in the future ? I understand i should have went to the museum to look at the objects but it seems to me a bit much to call it academic dishonesty ... its not like i copied someones work or used someone else's paper... they were all my original ideas. only difference is i looked at the objects at home instead of the museum. i meant no harm by this i simply did not have time to make it to the museum:uhoh3: if anything i feel like the professor should have given me a zero but not report it as academic dishonesty. i feel like i will now be labeled as a cheater/plagiarizer .. which is not what i am! please help .. has anyone had any similar situations??

You should appeal it. Even if you are fairly sure you won't win, you should do it because you have the right to do so. You never know, it might have just been a few people looking at it...or nobody, heck, they might have just signed it and passed it on because that's *sometimes* what happens at colleges. Shocking. ;) Let somebody higher up take a look. That's why colleges have higher ups, because sometimes things at the professor level get a little bit skewed and they start thinking that personally disrespecting them by not drooling over a bunch of old statues like they do = academic misconduct.

I don't think it will impact your nursing education. IF you were to have another issue come up in this area, this will be seen. But otherwise, most schools don't allow teachers to just go digging around in your file and see all of your stuff.

Good luck to you, don't do any other stupid things. ;) We all make mistakes, this one sucked for you but you'll be fine. Chin up and nose clean. :)

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And for everybody who thinks this is misconduct...it doesn't seem any different to me than writing a paper when you haven't read all of the assigned material.

Should I link the thread where everybody admitted they don't *actually* read their nursing text books?

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Yeesh. Some around here are pretty rough. I can't judge about how harsh the punishment was because I do know the full story and every detail of it. If I were you I talk to someone who knows much about academic dishonesty and student rights. Try not to make it a big deal but see if you were punished too harshly.

You are already doing a good job about being honest towards the school that you intend to go to and honesty is what is going to get you out of this. I can not say not to worry about it but do not let it interfere with any of your studies and continue to push harder.

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Some people on here like to get up on their high horse with all that moral integrity BS. I think you have a couple of options. You can appeal it and fight for it. It depends on the wording of the assignment. If the assignment was to write about the art you saw then I say you have a pretty good argument. You could also go ahead and go to the museum, do the assignment and turn it in and beg for forgiveness from the professor. Explain the situation and hope they show some humanity. I for one, don't believe it is cheating. I don't even necessarily think it was wrong either. You saw the work you wrote about it. You are not allowed to touch the stuff at the museum just look so what really is the difference. Hell, this makes you seem more efficient to me lol! I don't think you not taking the time out of your personal life and your own money to drive to see art is representative of your moral character and your propensity to cut corners. If asked about it you could hold your ground and say the only mistake you made was that you should have notified the teacher you would be viewing it online and that it was unreasonable for him/her to require you to go there and not provide an alternative. As far as jobs go they aren't going to care about your academic dishonesty if you graduate. They can't get into your school file without your permission anyway. I imagine nursing school admin might keep an eye on you for awhile but as long as you do what you are supposed to and don't make any more mistakes you should be good. Definitely own the issue and don't wait for them to approach it.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
This is a reflection on your personal integrity.

Integrity may seem like an old fashioned idea in today's world, but it is still a very big deal in nursing. The job is hard, and the temptation to cut corners is always there. We do the right thing because it IS the right thing, not because someone is watching or we're afraid of getting caught.

This hits the nail on the head. In NS they look at you in a different way than a normal student. You are held to a higher standard and you are expected to make decisions for your patients that don't have a clear right or wrong answer. On exams they will test you on this by asking questions about therapeutic communication. In clinical they will watch how you respond to criticism. In lecture they will note who is going to Facebook on their laptop.

Luckily they also seem to give respect to people that admit mistakes and are genuine, so if it comes up for your admission to NS, I would definitely be honest about it, talk about how you learned from it, grew as a person, etc. No employer will ever find out, so don't worry about that. Just take it as a lesson to be learned and you'll be fine.

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You got what you deserved. Willing to cut corners in one area shows the capacity to do so later on down the road.

Ease off the accelerator there a little Turbo

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Some people on here like to get up on their high horse with all that moral integrity BS. I think you have a couple of options. You can appeal it and fight for it. It depends on the wording of the assignment. If the assignment was to write about the art you saw then I say you have a pretty good argument. You could also go ahead and go to the museum, do the assignment and turn it in and beg for forgiveness from the professor. Explain the situation and hope they show some humanity. I for one, don't believe it is cheating. I don't even necessarily think it was wrong either. You saw the work you wrote about it. You are not allowed to touch the stuff at the museum just look so what really is the difference. Hell, this makes you seem more efficient to me lol! I don't think you not taking the time out of your personal life and your own money to drive to see art is representative of your moral character and your propensity to cut corners. If asked about it you could hold your ground and say the only mistake you made was that you should have notified the teacher you would be viewing it online and that it was unreasonable for him/her to require you to go there and not provide an alternative. As far as jobs go they aren't going to care about your academic dishonesty if you graduate. They can't get into your school file without your permission anyway. I imagine nursing school admin might keep an eye on you for awhile but as long as you do what you are supposed to and don't make any more mistakes you should be good. Definitely own the issue and don't wait for them to approach it.

I want to weep, finally a poster who speaks clear and common real life sense..thank you,there are some people on here who apparently have lived a mistake free life and love to pull the "hear my wrath" card a little too often..usually means insecurities..but thank you,nice work! :)

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I can't guess as to whether this will impact your nursing career.

However, I can say that its not for us to judge what you did as right or wrong or how right or how wrong. That is what your school does.

Nurses make mistakes, we make the wrong judgment calls, we might give or not give the right medication. So, to live mistake-free isn't possible (or at least it hasn't been for me).

Take care....no matter what happens, I'm sure you've learned a valuable lesson.

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I want to weep, finally a poster who speaks clear and common real life sense..thank you,there are some people on here who apparently have lived a mistake free life and love to pull the "hear my wrath" card a little too often..usually means insecurities..but thank you,nice work! :)

Honestly, if anyone purports that they are mistake free they are lying through their teeth. I don't think the OP came on here looking to be demonized by a bunch of people who claim to be "holier than thou". I certainly don't think anyone on here is qualified to make a statement about someone's moral aptitude from a signal incident which they are no privy to all of the facts. People 'cut corners' everyday, every minute in their lives. Someone skimming their text book instead of reading the whole chapter could be considered cheating. I have been in school for the better part of 20 years and I know how professors can be. Comparing an art class to a nursing class is completely unfair. They are not the same. That would be like saying the one time you ran a red light is a well painted picture of what kind of driver you are. Instead of judging the OP and trying to make yourself feel validated that way, maybe try to guide her and help her without the snarky comments and that might validate you in a healthy way. Just an idea. Thanks for the kudos!

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Absolutely you should of got a zero and absolutely I would have concern about you in a nursing program. What else might you not have "time" to do? Take actualvital signs? Go down the hall and actually look at a patient? Do a head to toe assessment or "say you did? You were dishonest, plain and simple. I personally do not want dishonest people that lack integrity in my profession.

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^:rolleyes:

Please. It was an art history paper, she was expected to drive to another state, she didn't cheat by copying anyone else's work, she made all the same commentary by looking at pictures instead of the actual pieces, and I'm guessing they weren't reimbursing parking or anything like that in NY.

What a crazy class...too bad your instructor wasn't more willing to just knock the grade down, I think even the zero is harsh considering you still wrote on the same pieces.

Regardless, its not going to show up on your transcript (right?) so you should be just fine in the future.

G/L and ignore the negative comments on this board, more stress is the last thing you need.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative Care.

You disagree that you were dishonest? If that's the case, I think the thing that will hurt your chances for success in the future will be your inability to accept responsibility for your actions. Do you want a nurse who viewed your chart online instead of seeing you in person because she didn't "have time" to do her job? Probably not... I know it's a far-fetched analogy, but that's kind of the way the world works.

I would love to see you learn from this mistake cause that's part of growing as a person... embrace it as a difficult lesson learned and a situation you will never find yourself in again. after all, LEARNING is nothing to be ashamed of!

I disagree .. but anyways no one really answered my question .. is this going to affect my progress in nursing school or job opportunities in the future ?
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