Any comments on academic honesty?

RNinICU · Feb 12, 2003

There is no way to separate academic integrity from professional or personal integrity. Either you are honest, or you are not. A student who cheats will continue the same kind of behaviors when he/she is working.

Mattigan, RN · Feb 12, 2003

Originally posted by RNinICU
There is no way to separate academic integrity from professional or personal integrity. Either you are honest, or you are not. A student who cheats will continue the same kind of behaviors when he/she is working.

My thoughts exactly. If a person can cheat on a school assignment- they can cheat on a dressing change or a med. record.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Feb 12, 2003

Honesty is all there is. Either you have integrity or you don't, there is no midway.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 12, 2003

Integrity, or lack of it, will surely guide a career. Our patients count on our integrity. I just read an article in RN magazine that states nurses are still at the top of the list in perceived integrity and honesty by the public we serve. This over many others, INCLUDING clergy and the esteemed physicians and pharmacists among whom we practice. So does THAT tell you how important this is?

Academic, career, it's all the same thing to me, as the others said. A cheat is a cheat....and an honest person is honest, plain and simple. THAT is why anyone caught cheating in ANY way in nursing school (where I went ) was quickly and summarily dismissed w/o the option to return.

llg, PhD, RN · Feb 12, 2003

I agree with the others who have posted. It comes down to what kind of person you are. If you have little intergrity as a student, you probably won't suddenly develop it when you graduate.

llg

susanmary · Feb 12, 2003

Integrity is the essence of a person -- you either have it or you don't. Integrity comes from within -- it's acting in a honest way -- regardless of whether others are around or would ever find out about your actions.

Academic honesty -- lord help the patients of the nurses who have cheated. In nursing school, there aren't too many short cuts-- there are many things you need to know. By cheating, you/the student loose out. In a clinical situation -- you need to have a solid theory base. Without this, you would be unable to apply your critical-thinking skills to a clinical situation. You need to put in the time and effort. Period.

What makes a good nurse? The same thing that makes a good person -- honesty and integrity. Our patients are putting their lives and their loved one's lives into our hands. They are trusting us in their most stressful/difficult times of their lives. We are privileged in this way -- ways nonnursing individuals will never know.

emily_mom · Feb 13, 2003

Funny this came up today, because I nailed a cheater in Pathophysiology today. This lady is a dirtbag and has cheated her way through til now. I had heard she was caught a few times but never failed. I don't know why. Anyway, she wrote a bunch of stuff on the inside label of a pop bottle (peeled it off and wrote). I saw her looking at it all the time and knew it was one of her tricks. So, when I handed my test in, I grabbed her bottle and gave it to the teacher. If she is not failed out of the program, I will start holy hell...

Even if she did make it through, I seriously doubt she could pass the NCLEX. But what if she did? I wouldn't want her working on me or responsible for anything.

Call me a bytch....but I don't play that game.

Kristy

Mkue · Feb 13, 2003

Honestly I hope those cheaters don't pass the NCLEX, ever.

New CCU RN · Feb 13, 2003

I doubt they will. And it will be scary if they do...bc there holes in their education will become apparent in their patient care.

kittyw · Feb 13, 2003

Won't cheat, don't believe in cheating, would turn someone in if I caught them cheating, but a lot of people would call me a "tattletale" :rolleyes: But that WAS a whole other thread.

delirium · Feb 13, 2003

There was a core group of cheaters my first year of nursing school. I called them on it, but it didn't seem to do much good (if I don't have the most complacent nursing instructors... ).

Anyway there's one left now. The others flunked out. She is lost, unsafe, and insecure. I'm sure she'll pass, pass the nclex, and probably be working with me by summer.