Cheating is always a potential problem in the university or college setting. It is very problematic for students, in that their learning is being circumvented. Cheaters will be less competent as graduates. Would you want, for instance, an accountant performing audits in your office who cheated his way through business school?
Students who cheat also run the risk of being expelled, if caught. Cheating is problematic from an ethical standpoint, in that students who cheat in school will likely behave unethically in real life scenarios, placing the public at risk. The nursing student who cheats or plagiarizes will later become the nurse who falsifies client records and covers up medication errors.
Cheating is problematic for college programs, in that the integrity and competency of the entire program of study are at stake. If a school of nursing, for instance, has a reputation for student dishonesty, then the public loses respect for that nursing program. Employers will be reticent in hiring new grads from that program, due to the notoriety. The entire program suffers. Honest students are placed at a disadvantage because of the actions of the cheaters.
Types of cheating that occur in the classroom involve much more than the "traditional" passing of notes during exams and the sideways furtive glance at a neighbor's test. Students may store "cheat notes" in baseball caps, pullover jackets (sleeves or capes), written on the inside labels of water bottles, "tattooed" on forearms or scribbled on desktops. More techno-savvy forms of cheating involve the use of texting with cell phones, i-pods, buying textbook test banks over the internet, and sharing information about the exams via virtual means. Entire websites exist to give students advice on the latest techniques of cheating.
What can nurse educators do to safeguard the learning process in the classroom during quizzes and examinations?
Here is a list of suggestions that is by no means comprehensive:
Help students know and understand the nursing school's honor code, as well as the ana code of ethics. Also, cover the university or college's academic dishonesty policy and consequences for indiscretions.
Require students to spread out during testing (every other seat), if possible. Rotate seating during examinations.
Use proctors to circulate throughout the classroom during the test. A rule of thumb is one proctor per every 25 students in a room.
Avoid using standard test banks. Create your own multiple choice test items or alter the test bank questions substantially.
Use more than one version of the test during each examination. Change examination items significantly from semester to semester.
Require students to sign a "no cheating" affirmation on each test.
Do not allow cell phones, i-pods, pullover jackets, or baseball caps during the examination. Labels must be removed from water bottles. Bookbags and notebooks should be stored away from the desk (preferably in the aisle).
Do not allow students to take unproctored tests online. This is only asking for trouble.
If the cps "clicker" system is being used, require students to leave their clickers in the classroom (or remove batteries) after completing the test. Otherwise, students can get together in the hall to compare answers and they can still access and change their responses until the exam is officially "closed out" by the instructor.
I have found, in my experience, that the vast majority of nursing students are honest and ethical. Actual incidents of cheating are rare. Therefore, I caution educators to always treat students with respect and dignity. Avoid creating a suspicious environment in which everyone is "assumed" to be cheating. Cheating is a serious offense and students should be considered "innocent" unless caught in the very act. Still, instructors must remain vigilant. Hopefully, the advice given in this column will help the nurse educator prevent and detect any cheating that may be occurring in the classroom.
One of my bestfriends got into Nursing school by cheating.
Out of highschool we didn't have all of the pre-req's to apply to the Nursing program here in Ontario, so we took one semester of a Pre-Health program at a local college.
We both took Intro Anatomy, and Communications.
Our anatomy class has 6 tests spread out through the semester. She passed the first one with a 60%, failed the next two. The last three she was "sick" for, so she didn't write them on the actual exam day, so she'd get to write the same exam, within a week after she missed it. That's a poor policy the college had. Anyways the day after the exam the teacher would give the exams back to review, then collect them at the end of class, so a friend of ours would write down all the correct answers for the exams, then give them to my bestfriend to use when writing the test later.
She got 100% on the last three exams by cheating that way. Teacher didn't suspect a thing. She ended up with a 88% in the course, and got accepted to Nursing right away. If she hadn't cheated, she'd probably not be in Nursing school right now. People will do anything these days, but she's since matured, we were only 19 years old at the time.
Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
One of my bestfriends got into Nursing school by cheating.
Out of highschool we didn't have all of the pre-req's to apply to the Nursing program here in Ontario, so we took one semester of a Pre-Health program at a local college.
We both took Intro Anatomy, and Communications.
Our anatomy class has 6 tests spread out through the semester. She passed the first one with a 60%, failed the next two. The last three she was "sick" for, so she didn't write them on the actual exam day, so she'd get to write the same exam, within a week after she missed it. That's a poor policy the college had. Anyways the day after the exam the teacher would give the exams back to review, then collect them at the end of class, so a friend of ours would write down all the correct answers for the exams, then give them to my bestfriend to use when writing the test later.
She got 100% on the last three exams by cheating that way. Teacher didn't suspect a thing. She ended up with a 88% in the course, and got accepted to Nursing right away. If she hadn't cheated, she'd probably not be in Nursing school right now. People will do anything these days, but she's since matured, we were only 19 years old at the time.
Interesting point about make-up examinations. If a teacher is using the same test version for both, it is not a question of if students will cheat, but when and how much. Prudent instructors should have several different versions of examinations or different modalities (such as an essay exam for make-up).
The make-up examination should never be the same test that the overall class received. If there are two sections to a class, each section should have its own version of the test. Otherwise, that's an open invitation to cheating also.
I remember very well this one guy who was in my nursing program, one semester behind me. He would talk in med surg class and walk around trying to get answers, as though it was "ok". I used to get so annoyed when he would try and say hello to me b/c I was such a hard worker in school and he was blatantly cheating. Ahhh..I can still remember him and at one point, pointed out to a professor that people in the back were cheating. Nothing was ever done and he graduated and is working in Brooklyn, NY at a hospital where the main population are the elderly:(
Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
I remember very well this one guy who was in my nursing program, one semester behind me. He would talk in med surg class and walk around trying to get answers, as though it was "ok". I used to get so annoyed when he would try and say hello to me b/c I was such a hard worker in school and he was blatantly cheating. Ahhh..I can still remember him and at one point, pointed out to a professor that people in the back were cheating. Nothing was ever done and he graduated and is working in Brooklyn, NY at a hospital where the main population are the elderly:(
My "lovely" teacher has teacher's pets...3 to be exact. One of them (who is from her country of origin) had the nerve to say " she will not let me fail"
Ohhh goshhhh there's been soo many times i wanted to cry because this teacher would even give them THE TEST we were going to take that week. EVEN bring it to clinicals. Oh man oh man! It's sooo frustrating when she thinks none of us notice it, but during scoring she would say " EVERYONE" passed....and look at a certain someone in obvious signs that student fail but she was not gona let it happen. I thought to myself, this is not my problem....but it just affects the way your mind functions in such a bad way.
My "lovely" teacher has teacher's pets...3 to be exact. One of them (who is from her country of origin) had the nerve to say " she will not let me fail"
Ohhh goshhhh there's been soo many times i wanted to cry because this teacher would even give them THE TEST we were going to take that week. EVEN bring it to clinicals. Oh man oh man! It's sooo frustrating when she thinks none of us notice it, but during scoring she would say " EVERYONE" passed....and look at a certain someone in obvious signs that student fail but she was not gona let it happen. I thought to myself, this is not my problem....but it just affects the way your mind functions in such a bad way.
There were a few suspected cheaters in my class, one of whom was the President of our class. He failed his first attempt at the Boards. A fellow student who I USED to hang out with e-mailed me with test questions. I don't know how she got them, but I told her I refused to open the attachment and to NEVER send anything like that again. That's the only test that quarter she did well on, and it took her SIX times to pass Boards. Some people!
In my nursing classes if your cell phone goes off during a regular class you get a demerit. No excuses, no exceptions. If it goes off during a test it's even worse. I know. Mine went off one day. It was nurse at the ICU where my mother was a patient and under heavy sedation. I had her medical power of attorney and they needed my permission to do a couple of procedures. Even after explaining this, I still got the demerit.
I can't think of any one in my class with the guts to even look at a cell phone during class, much less a test.
Some time ago, I was taking some courses, I was seated at the very front row across from the instructor's desk so I was able to see most of what the other students did when they came to the front of the class. All of us were advised to wash our hands after each break. The sink was located directly behind the instructor's desk. Every once in a while, some of the students would walk up to the sink to wash their hands, at the same time they would take a glance over to her desk. The cheaters would copy the answers and share with others in the back of the class. One day they copied the answers for the wrong test.
There were a few suspected cheaters in my class, one of whom was the President of our class. He failed his first attempt at the Boards. A fellow student who I USED to hang out with e-mailed me with test questions. I don't know how she got them, but I told her I refused to open the attachment and to NEVER send anything like that again. That's the only test that quarter she did well on, and it took her SIX times to pass Boards. Some people!
I would just like to point out that just b/c someone fails the boards, does not mean they were cheating in school. Sadly, I failed the boards a few times and I was a hardworking student who graduated with honors. I'm just a bad test taker when I am timed. I actually knew a lot of students who cheated, passed the boards the first time and they work in LTC and the ICU. So..
I would just like to point out that just b/c someone fails the boards, does not mean they were cheating in school. Sadly, I failed the boards a few times and I was a hardworking student who graduated with honors. I'm just a bad test taker when I am timed. I actually knew a lot of students who cheated, passed the boards the first time and they work in LTC and the ICU. So..
Oh! I certainly didn't mean it to sound like that! So sorry. I guess at the time the rest of our class just felt like it served them right. Sorry for any offense that may have been taken!
I'm concerned about cheating in prerequisites as well as in nursing courses. Seems to me that the extreme competitiveness of many programs may tempt a lot of students to cheat. How can someone be a successful nursing student if he/she cheated on the prereqs?
I don't know how she got them, but I told her I refused to open the attachment and to NEVER send anything like that again. That's the only test that quarter she did well on, and it took her SIX times to pass Boards. Some people!
2bNurse-88
90 Posts
One of my bestfriends got into Nursing school by cheating.
Out of highschool we didn't have all of the pre-req's to apply to the Nursing program here in Ontario, so we took one semester of a Pre-Health program at a local college.
We both took Intro Anatomy, and Communications.
Our anatomy class has 6 tests spread out through the semester. She passed the first one with a 60%, failed the next two. The last three she was "sick" for, so she didn't write them on the actual exam day, so she'd get to write the same exam, within a week after she missed it. That's a poor policy the college had. Anyways the day after the exam the teacher would give the exams back to review, then collect them at the end of class, so a friend of ours would write down all the correct answers for the exams, then give them to my bestfriend to use when writing the test later.
She got 100% on the last three exams by cheating that way. Teacher didn't suspect a thing. She ended up with a 88% in the course, and got accepted to Nursing right away. If she hadn't cheated, she'd probably not be in Nursing school right now. People will do anything these days, but she's since matured, we were only 19 years old at the time.