I'm in my last semester of pre-reqs, starting nursing school in the fall. I have noticed a bit of casual cheating (who knew this was a thing!?). Last week, a couple students next to me, while taking a test in A&P II were blatantly cheating. How do I know? Well, this teacher gives color coded tests, such that you should never be next to anyone with the same version of the test as yourself. HOWEVER, the questions are all the same, just jumbled around. Long story short, they were talking and comparing tests in detail, also, our teacher made a printing error and had to manually write some questions (for only one version of the test) on the board. One of the alleged cheaters turned in her test, before the professor even finished writing the questions on the board! (I was shocked.) He was flustered because of his error and didn't notice what was going on with these girls.
My dilemma... what is my responsibility (if any)with this blatant cheating and with casual cheating that I see almost daily (with others)? I'm a person of strong character and have very black and white views on this for myself and my kids. I also spend hours studying for a test only to get within 5 points of these "cheaters".
These girls, specifically, are pre-nursing. If they somehow make it in, how would you deal with this in the program? It could really screw up someone's care down the line and frankly it scares me to have to share patients with someone like this.
My petty concern, is that they will retaliate. They already don't seem to be the nicest of people and would hate to end up with a keyed car or something. If I don't do something, they could end up hurting someone down the line with these poor habits.
Gah! Help. Have you ever been in a similar situation? At what point is enough, enough?
I was in a similar situation the very first week of nursing school I met up with a group of classmates to study before we took our online exam (which was individual). When one of the girls turned on the test and started asking us for help I had to walk away. It was so hard to take that exam on my own knowing that my classmates were turning this individual exam into a group exam! However I did what most people here are saying; I focused on myself and tried not to compete with classmates and only my own scores. It became clear in clinical who was doing the proper readings and one girl even got kicked out for cheating (thank god I left that situation when I did!). I think that cheating really manifested itself when we all took the NCLEX because those who got through nursing school with the help of friends were unable to do so on the NCLEX and they failed....yes they ALL failed.
So moral of my story, and all of those before me: why cheat when you are paying your way through school to become a nurse? All you are doing is wasting the valuable years of nursing school that should be spent soaking up as much information as you can :)
Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.
I agree with everything written about, and yet....
Schools have honor codes that students sign. These codes often say that a student who doesn't report cheating is as guilty as the cheater, or some such words. It bothers me that students who see cheating don't report it. If the instructor doesn't see it, and it's reported, he can watch more closely next time, and do something about it. No one has to know who made the report.
Nurses must be honorable and trustworthy. People who cheat on tests or assignments are not honorable or trustworthy. It's my opinion that nursing students who cheat are just a slippery slope away from thinking some dishonorable and untrustworthy behavior in their nursing career, that could impact patients, is ok.
I say report cheating and leave it in the instructor's hands to confront.
Thanks to everyone who has chimed in. I'm still new to this whole school etiquette thing and appreciate the input. I've adjusted my view on this whole thing. I am definitely not out to make enemies nor do I see myself as better than others. I'm going to worry about myself aND keep my head down.
When I was in A&P and Microbiology I heard many people blatantly talking about cheating. Some exams were online. One person would take the exam while the others helped answer and they would snapshot the screen to have the questions for when the rest to take the exam. This was so frustrating for those of us who were honest. One instructors questions were so long and the allotted time was about 1 min. per question. If we complained about the time limit, he referred to the fact that others were able to make A's. Some were caught, some didn't make it in the nursing program and some did. I can tell you that EVERY ONE of the cheaters didn't make it long in the nursing program. They failed. What you learn in the nursing program is based upon what you learned in A&P/Micro. There might be real quick reviews of those basics, but you don't have time to learn what you should already know on top of the new more complicated material. Be proud of your honesty and hard work, it will get you a lot further in life.
Cheaters can't cheat their whole way through the program. At some point they are going to have to sit down for an exit exam or NCLEX and won't make it. We had a cheater that made it until senior year at which point he had to pass exit exams. Failed miserably. Didn't even know what the generic name of Tylenol is or where a chest tube goes. You can't cheat nclex.
I might have a different view on this than others - I would report all cheaters immediately, as it is happening. This way, the professor has a better chance of seeing it for themselves.
I don't like the idea of anyone being so lazy/disrespectful of the course that they cannot study to get a passing grade. If they took their schooling seriously, they would not have to lower their morals and use cheating as a strategy. It has always bugged me that the general consensus on AN is to look the other way when cheating happens. Every once in a while, I am sure that a person can find a way to cheat their way through nursing school, then, out of sheer luck, they pass the NCLEX and become a nurse.
It is very disheartening to me when I see people give advice to not get involved with something this serious. There is a reason why higher education generally has very harsh consequences for those caught cheating. It does not matter if it is "just for pre-requisite classes," or if it is happening during your nursing courses. Cheating is always cheating.
From a workplace perspective..... we administer assessments during the onboarding/orientation process. There are also some assessments that are used as part of our annual competency validation processes. Integrity is one of our core values, so cheating on any of these is cause for termination.
It didn't used to be a problem. But over the last 10 years, our own evidence shows us that the frequency of this behavior as steadily increased. As a result, we now have 'proctoring standards' for assessments. This includes such things as - no extraneous materials or electronics are permitted (they are collected by the proctor). We shuffle all test items so that each person has a different version of the assessment than her/his neighbors.
Our sample size is not large enough to draw any statistical conclusions, but the clear majority of instances involve staff less than age 40 who have worked for us
i am in my first year of the nursing program and had a situation in my pharmocology class similar to yours. I spoke to my teacher privatley in her office regarding what was going on so that she was aware of the issue at hand but with no names on the people that were at fault. Our next test was an iteresting one to say the least but though there was talk regarding gossip of cheeting no one knew who what where when or how of the matter. I could not sit by and let it happen. i work my butt off and a good at what i do but for them to breez through by cheeting realy bugs me. I am just lucky that none of the cheeters are in my clinical group or i would have a realy hard time standing by.
My dilemma... what is my responsibility (if any)with this blatant cheating and with casual cheating that I see almost daily (with others)? I'm a person of strong character and have very black and white views on this for myself and my kids. I also spend hours studying for a test only to get within 5 points of these "cheaters".
These girls, specifically, are pre-nursing. If they somehow make it in, how would you deal with this in the program? It could really screw up someone's care down the line and frankly it scares me to have to share patients with someone like this.
Somehow these cheating post always tend to have an "eliminating the competition" or "Worrying about the competition" undertone.
I would report it -- probably right then and there. I would simply go up to the professor and whisper ... "There is some cheating going on. You might want to keep your eye on that." And then sit down and go back to work (protecting my paper, of course).
If the instructor did not act in any way ... and/or if the behavior continued throughout the class, on later tests, etc. I would include it in my course evals -- perhaps including the information that the instructor was aware of it and did not address it. Course evaluations are usually anonymous, read by the administration, and sometimes go into the professor's personnel file. Once the course was over and my grade was secure, I would nail the professor for in-action.
But then ... I am "old school" when it comes to ethics. And I believe that watching bad behavior (e.g. cheating, stealing, racism, etc.) and doing nothing is wrong.
NurseStelri
39 Posts
I was in a similar situation the very first week of nursing school I met up with a group of classmates to study before we took our online exam (which was individual). When one of the girls turned on the test and started asking us for help I had to walk away. It was so hard to take that exam on my own knowing that my classmates were turning this individual exam into a group exam! However I did what most people here are saying; I focused on myself and tried not to compete with classmates and only my own scores. It became clear in clinical who was doing the proper readings and one girl even got kicked out for cheating (thank god I left that situation when I did!). I think that cheating really manifested itself when we all took the NCLEX because those who got through nursing school with the help of friends were unable to do so on the NCLEX and they failed....yes they ALL failed.
So moral of my story, and all of those before me: why cheat when you are paying your way through school to become a nurse? All you are doing is wasting the valuable years of nursing school that should be spent soaking up as much information as you can :)