Last week of first semester nursing school and have the highest grade in the class. already stressing about finals, etc. Then comes my Fundamentals teacher accusing my friend and I of cheating simply because we both go the same question incorrect. Mind you we had DIFFERENT answers!!! She also LIED to both of us stating that we did write the same answer. Nursing professionalism is stressed in the class she teaches, where is hers? I don't think that is called cheating but just making stupid mistakes on our part. She stated that she went to the nursing program director to discuss "what she should do". There is nothing to do. My question is what are the implications, if any, of an instructor falsely accusing you without any support to back it up and going to other instructors to tell them about it? I am a mature woman with a family, have worked my butt off to get where I am. I don't need some arrogant nursing instructor to ruin the rest of my year in school with a false accusation like that. It's jeopardizing my character and my integrity.
I agree that this could be the beginning of the end of your nursing school career. Do not let this go. Take action of some sort to let them know that you can't be pushed around. Good luck.
Unfortunately I agree as well. This instructor has the ability to ruin your credability with other instructors in the program. She's clearly out of bounds and her info isn't even accurate. I would call a lawyer and get some legal advice as it never hurts. I would also calmly call the Dean and request a meeting with the Dean, your instructor, and her superior. Bring your lawyer if need be. You are a grown woman and totally innocent here. Let them know if this doesn't stop today and your grades which are currently excellent start to fall you will sue them. And it is absolutely slander as your instructor is lying. Protect yourself immediately.
I agree that protecting yourself is necessary. When I was in school there was an opposite situation. A student said that the instructor said something derogatory about his race/culture. This was during a small group discussion. The only thing said was to the effect "would you be willing to give us some insight about your culture?". Mind you, this was during a Transcultural Nursing class. All of us in the group had to give a statement on tape on what happened.
It was interesting being in further groups with him-I usually barely talked to him for fear that I would be the next person sued.
We had an incident a few weeks ago where the instructor knocked points off of a homework assgnmt for quite a few in the class. His reasoning was that too many of our answers looked alike, and yes we do have some in our class that swap homework and cut and paste it, but most don't. Then he turned around and said our answers were plagiarized because our answers came from the text of our books...the same books the homework questions were in and hence why so many of our answers looked alike. This had most of the class up in arms. The next homework the class turned in came with about 2 pages of notations, bibliography, and references just to cover our butts.
If I were in your shoes, I would take this very seriously and I would get some legal advice right away. You have likely spent a fair bit of money to get your education and it will be worth it to spend some more money to defend yourself. In the meantime, start documenting everything you remember about any exchange you have had with this instructor, this includes, dates, time, place, any other people present and any other thing that you feel is relevant.
Also, don't discuss this with any of your classmates, you just don't know for sure who is trustworthy. It isn't fair that you have to do this, but you must look after yourself. CYA, begins in nursing school.
In the meantime, I would not sit near your friend for any more tests or work with her. Any paper that you hand in, make sure that you reference everything that is not yours directly and include a detailed bibliography. I have a few friends that teach high school and cheating is a big problem and this may be leading your instructor to make false assumptions about you.
i'm trying not to hijack the thread here, but the something similiar happened to my dh in his master's program. he was accused of using "big words". another prof told him he believed dh, and that the prof that had made the accusations probably was dumb.
dh has a background in research chemistry before shifting gears and going into psychology. he tends to use "bi words" in his ordinary conversations as well. this particular prof gave dh the lowest possible score he could on numerous subjective assignments, yet still pass him. dh avoids him as much as possible now, but still dreads the impact he may have on his master's thesis (as he could be on the review committee).
oh i have been there.
i wrote a semester exam once on diabetes mellitus. it was 12 pages long - complete with pictures, bibliography and reference sheet.
my teacher said that because it was so well written, she felt that i had copy and pasted from the internet. she gave me a 94%. but i noticed that the girl who sat next to me- who was failing the class got a 100%. i asked if i could read her 2 page paper, and i found all kinds of grammatical errors, run-on sentences, and contradicting information - (that anyone who knows the symptoms of dm could easily spot.)
my teacher wrote on my paper in red ink "are these your words? because you cheated i will not give you a 100%"
well, i was madder than a wet cat in a bath-tub.... since i did not cheat, and cited every single source i used down to page numbers, exact web site addresses and correct in text paraphrases and quotes. i went to the head of nursing for the program and gave her my paper. she could not believe the teacher wrote that on there. she pulled up the internet in front of me and began typing in a few of my sentences randomly - to see if she would get a match. and sure enough she didnt. she then had me explain my references and i showed her what information i took from the cites and how i explained it and cited it in the paper.
in the end- she said this is a well written paper deserving a 100%. she then called in my teacher - who looked like she wanted to kill me. the teacher had to explain herself to the director and was reprimanded for not checking my paper before assuming it was a cheat.
teachers should quit assuming and unless they have proof they should not accuse. you know what they say
when you assume you make an a$$ out of you and me!
Speaking of instructors and cheating - my nursing school had an instructor who detested the idea of men in nursing. She was actually caught altering the test answers of a male student so that he would fail the examination. Even so, since she was tenured ultimately nothing happened to her, and there she was standing in front of the class for my final semester. I made very sure that I had as little contact with her as possible, and thankfully she wasn't my assigned clinical instructor.
I know about an instructor at a huge school in my area that was the same way. She insisted the a male student was clumsy and that men had no business being in nursing (she even told him so in front of the other students and RNs at the clinical site). Lawsuit! He got his loans paid off by the school and transferred with that paid off too.
All the students had his back, but he understandably transferred. However, she got promoted. Probably to show what a good teacher she was in case any of the other guys started feeling mistreated.
Many schools/colleges/universities/etc. have written procedures to follow for cheating/plagiarism and for students to file grievances regarding grades received on assignments (or the final class grade). At all the schools I've gone to there has been an Honor Council that hear cases regarding violations. The professor and the student present their evidence separately, can call witnesses, etc. Afterwards, the council will deliberate and make a final decision (pending university apporval). At my first college, this process took 2-3 week, but at my 2nd school the process could take up until the student's graduation (2-3 years).
Maybe you can call the dean of students (over your entire college, not just the program you're in) and ask general questions about the process and how it is initiated. It may also be in your school handbook. I just found this link by google-ing "university student grievance": http://www.wku.edu/handbook/current/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=26. If you school doesn't have such a process, maybe you can help get one in place so these types of situations can be alleviated in the future.
Yes, they have written procedures.
But everyone also knows, that it's kind of like going to court for a traffic ticket.
You are pretty much considered guilty, before you even get there.
legal counsel? are you serious? why are nurses so dramatic? go and sit down and talk with whomever is in charge at your school. also, you said you were accused of cheating but with different answers? your instructor must have other evidence to believe that you and your friend cheated. you version of what seems to be happening doesn't really make sense... maybe i am missing something. best of luck to you!!!!!
Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.
Yes, legal counsel. Because as stated above, you ARE considered guilty until proven otherwise, and the accusation alone is enough to call your future credibility into issue, especially in nursing.
Nursing is an awfully small world, and things like that have a way to come back and bite you in the butt.
Batman24
1,975 Posts
Unfortunately I agree as well. This instructor has the ability to ruin your credability with other instructors in the program. She's clearly out of bounds and her info isn't even accurate. I would call a lawyer and get some legal advice as it never hurts. I would also calmly call the Dean and request a meeting with the Dean, your instructor, and her superior. Bring your lawyer if need be. You are a grown woman and totally innocent here. Let them know if this doesn't stop today and your grades which are currently excellent start to fall you will sue them. And it is absolutely slander as your instructor is lying. Protect yourself immediately.