plagiarism??

Whispera, MSN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

I think of it this way...If you are getting paid or getting some form of credit for what you copy, you are cheating/stealing from the person who write it originally. I doubt it's a fire-able offense in charting, but it would irk me if someone borrowed my words rather than typing a thoughtful note him/herself...

chare · Aug 25, 2015

If you're referring to paper charting, while I don't see this as plagiarism, it is most likely much more work that creating your own note.

If you're referring to electronic charting, this is something that is done every day, by all members of the health care team.

wolf9653 · Aug 25, 2015

the company paid both people, so both notes are property of the company. I don't think either were paid for artistry, but for content. I personally don't care if anybody copys my notes, i'm actually i'd be a little flattered. But trust me, neither note was shakespeare. It's just the kind of pettiness that makes nursing a miserable place to be.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Aug 25, 2015

I found it interesting that the one non native English speaking nurse who would copy my narrative (paper charting) often out of context as I don't think she understood my syntax or choice of vocabulary. She'd copy word for word often including my time descriptions such as "reported by parent that diaper area rash first appeared yesterday 8/23" But be writing on 8/28.

Cut & paste narrative of another nurse can be seen as lazy especially if not 100% accurate. More so if you don't proofread and copy the other nurse's spelling or grammar errors.

Plagiarism? Unless writing for publication I don't think so

scottaprn · Aug 25, 2015

I thought the entire purpose of an EMR was to make copy and paste easier.

As always I turn to gomerblog.com for further understanding. Surgery Resident Successfully Writes an Entire Consult Note Using only Copy-and-Paste | GomerBlog

(Yes this post, just like gomerblog.com is satirical in nature)

klone, MSN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

It's very common, in antepartum where patients are often on the unit for weeks/months, for the residents to a C&P of previous days' notes and just change pertinent info (such as gestational age, daily vitals and labs, etc). It's always amusing when the original note had an incorrect fact in it, and the fact just keeps getting repeated over and over and over.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Aug 25, 2015

I actually had to write a discussion post in my micro class about plagiarism. The definition of plagiarism is taking someone's ideas/ writing/work/etc & not giving them credit, so yes technically that would be plagiarism. But I don't know anyone that has gotten in trouble for it.

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

I think I would be irritated if someone copied what I wrote word for word. I doubt I'd complain to a manager about it, but I would probably ridicule the person.

Everline · Aug 25, 2015

Yes, there are more important things to worry about.

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

I was at a meeting today where one nurse complained that another nurse copied and pasted another's note and was upset. I asked if the content that the other person noted was a true indication of the patient's status. She replied it didn't matter it's plagiarism. I thought it was the silliest thing I ever heard. Over the years I've read some really good notes, that had some excellent phrasing, that really describe a situation well, that I "plagiarize" to this day, mostly from foreign born nurses that were taught a different way. From my point of view, either it's true, or it's not, that's what important in a note, and aren't there more important things to worry about?

I tend to agree with you, OP. Obviously we don't know the level of detail of the original note and therefore how blatant the copying was, but at a certain point, if the patient's status hasn't changed, there's only so much you can say differently. You shouldn't have to be pulling out a thesaurus to make sure you've changed enough so as not to be accused of "plagiarism."

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

I don't think the documentation should be exactly word for word of another nurses, but sometimes there is a lot of change to write about. It's no biggie to me. It just appears at the "copier" is lazy if the documentation is exactly word for word.