Have you ever cheated in school ? Would you ever cheat if you could get away with it?
Cheating - copying stuff that's not yours - tests, homework, projects and/or other assignments.
Scenario 1:
While taking an exam, your professor left the classroom. You're seated beside a straight-A student. Would you peak to that student's paper? (Note: You can get away with it! You will not get caught!)
Scenario 2:
Your teacher is in the classroom giving a final exam. You are allowed to use your cellphone as a calculator. You are using an iPhone and can access the internet. Would you look into Google to find the answer to a question you do not know?
So, does anyone of you ever cheated in nursing school? at least once or maybe a lot of times? Could you share some of your experiences if you got caught or if you got away with it? Did you feel bad/guilty about it afterward?
I'm just curious, so please don't think that this thread is offensive in anyway. I have to admit that I cheated before. I copied someone's homework, I looked into my seatmates' test paper. I wrote some medical dosages' formula in my desk.
There's also this cliche that goes "When you cheat, you're really cheating yourself." I say this is BS - especially in school. Tuition nowadays is over the top particularly nursing. Not to mention how hard it is to get in into the damn program.
No, no, no...I'm being sarcastic. I'm not accusing anybody of lying. In fact, I'm talking to the poster who said that we are all saints or that we're not being honest. I'm sorry if that came out wrong. I am no saint, either, but have not cheated. That poster annoyed me by implying that we are not being honest with the OP , just because some of us actually have ethics and principles, and think that it's WRONG to cheat - esp. in nursing school.
Thanks. I usually have a good sense of humor...sorry I didn't get that one.
Many people cheated and got away with it in my school. I found it despicable. I NEVER cheated. I feel so strongly that cheating IS cheating yourself... but you know what??? That's selfish! CHEATING IS CHEATING YOUR PATIENTS! It's cheating your patients out of you being the best you can for them, giving every last ounce of what you have to make sure you are on your "A" game in their care. Do you want to be in my ER bed knowing that I work my A$$ off to know my job as well as I can so that I can identify that one thing that tells me when you're going south or do you want the ER (or any other) bed of the nurse who cheated through school and is just satisfied they have a job?
Is helping another student with something they didn't know cheating? According to the wording of certain codes of conduct, sure. How about sharing notes with someone? Also could be considered cheating.
I don't think that you have actually read a code of conduct. They usually list the kinds of things that ARE considered cheating and are clear to avoid any confusion. They are not written in "legalese". Of course helping a fellow student with their studies is not cheating. Sharing notes with someone is not cheating. Now when that person turns around to you during a test and says "What did you get for # 15"-and you give them the answer, then you have aided and abetted the cheater.
As for the dressing change example, if you read the original post that I took the examples from, the original poster was arguing that a taking a 'shortcut' during a test such as writing the formulas on your hand is a gray area and not really cheating because you still have to do the math correctly to get the correct answer. The poster went on to say that nurses "cheat" on the job when they do not do something the way it was taught to them. I maintain that if you don't know the equation, and the instructor does not make allowances for you to bring the formula with you to class, then writing it on your hand is cheating because it is giving yourself an advantage that the others in your class did not share. The dressing change was an example I used to try to explain the difference between cheating and shortcuts. I stand by this example.
This kind of "I did it the only correct way possible so I am better than everyone else here" attitude is what lends to the concept that nurses eat their young. Nursing school IS NOT about making sure you come out on top of every one else but learning as much as you can so you don't end up killing someone out of negligence or ignorance.
Though I agree that in nursing school, you should have the attitude that you need to learn as much as you can to give your patient the best care that you are able, I am afraid that nursing school is EXACTLY about doing better than everyone else. That is why nursing schools require 70'S and sometimes 80'S to stay in the program. It does not mean that those people are the nicest or most ethical or even the smartest (one student in my class, I wouldn't trust to take care of my dog while one who failed out I would trust with a hospitalized relative.) It is a measure of achievement. A measure of academic success. It is about integrity.
I gave up alot to graduate nursing school. I studied my butt off. I took tests before which other students whined about how they didn't get to study because they were making out with their boyfriend or got drunk on the weekend. And I went to school with cheaters who were very open about their cheating. I graduated with honors, I had my own problems to battle just like EVERYONE else. But I NEVER, NOT ONCE, CHEATED my way through. If this makes me self righteous, then so be it. Do I resent cheaters who stand beside me and say they are as good as me? I sure do. i have helped numerous fellow students through giving them notes. helping them with equations, helping them word papers. But at the point the test is on, you need to have the integrity to get through it yourself, on your own brain power.
This thread AMAZES me in the number of people who have convinced themselves that it isn't cheating if I do the math, learn the material later or only do it this once.
I will say it again-there are NO grey areas in cheating.
~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
That's the only way to be!!!!