Help! Bought an online test bank not sure what to do!

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What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

Members are discussing the ethics of using test banks to study for exams in nursing school. Some argue that using test banks is not cheating as long as they are used for studying purposes, while others believe it constitutes academic dishonesty. There is also a debate about the legality of obtaining test banks and the potential consequences of using them in academic settings.

A student in my class bought an online test bank and shared it with the entire class, well little did we know that when we took our test on Monday that it was exactly the same! Could we get kicked out of nursing school for this????

19 other students had it as well!!

Half your class has been kicked out of the program?!

Scary stuff.

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Yes and our 1st appeals were turned down 2nd appeal next week. But we have tests and finals coming up soon so we're trying to hurry and get back in. I just don't understand how we are out for dishonesty when we told the truth. I don't know how to go about my appeal :/

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What are you appealing? Have you been dismissed as well?

Sorry you have to go through this. :-(

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NicolleM said:
I just don't understand how we are out for dishonesty when we told the truth. I don't know how to go about my appeal ?

Unfortunately, having told the truth about being dishonest doesn't necessarily get you off the hook. I hope this will work out okay for you, though.

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I am a little confused. Are you saying the entire class had copies of the test bank? Some admitted to it, some didn't. The ones that admitted to it were dismissed from the program and the ones that did not admit to it are still in the program.

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We are all appealing to get back in the program. We didn't know that it was going to be her test and I had never even seen a test bank before this. I just thought they were practice questions. The test was on a Monday and our next class wasn't until Thursday so we had planned to go to her on Thursday as a group but they considered that dishonesty bc we waited too long.

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That's exactly what I'm saying. So the dishonest students are still in class and the honest ones are out.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I am SO SORRY you are going through this....I was afraid this would happen.

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Take a look at your handbook and see if there is anything that explicitly forbids the usage of test banks as study material.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Why didn't you say anything during the test or immediately thereafter when you were well aware something was amiss? Why wait 3 days ? If you said something right away because you honestly believed it was a practice test book (like an NCLEX prep book) and if you only had a partial copy not the main pages that indicated that it was an instructors test bank authorized for sale only to qualified instructors you may have had more of a chance.

Check your schools honor code and academic honesty/dishonesty policy for guidance.

I would have spoken up ASAP but I know most people either would wait and think (similar to your post here trying to determine the best course of action based upon personal ethics) or not even consider saying anything (hoping they don't get caught). Nursing is perceived as a highly trusted and ethical profession overall. Dishonesty & cheating is often taken very seriously by nursing school administration. Carefully review your schools appeals process if you are otherwise a student in good academic & moral standing perhaps you can prepare a statement or presentation to educate others and be re admitted provisionally. Someone who was borderline academically likely would not be successful in such an appeal.

However if the copy you used said instructors's guide/test bank you likely won't have much success and this can adversely impact admission to another nursing program.

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Nothing in the syllabus, nursing handbook, or school handbook about test banks.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Perhaps appeal individually and refer to your schools policy on academic honesty, cheating and honor code. Focus on where you made errors and how you can move forward to not repeat this incident and perhaps help others to learn from your mistake.

It's not likely that instructor test banks are explicitly forbidden but a prudent student would not intentionally use instructor test banks for their textbook to prepare for a test. If they were a recommended test prep source you could get them at the school bookstore or directly from the publisher not eBay or Craigslist ;). I will bet instructors will start including statements about not using instructor materials or test banks in future course outlines.

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