Alright here is the story in as short and brief terms as possible. One of my classes is taught in a lecture auditorium with about 90 seats and 72 students. Exams are given in this auditorium. It resembles a movie theater with rising rows one section is dead center and their are two sections--one to the right and one to the left. Obviously testing under these conditions is "uncomfortable" to put it in one word because if you want to cheat all you have to do is move your eyes..no looking up or twisting of the head is necessary. Most people have their papers covered like hawks.
It became apparent to me after the exam that multiple people were discussing their cheating habits on the exam and those who didn't even bother to open a book received a grade in the high 90's..and how funny is it that so did the person next to the other. I don't really care about what grade everyone gets..it just bothers me that people are cheating on these types of exams. If they can't answer the questions themselves I don't want them standing over my loved one's bed.
As you can imagine because the room is split into three sections it is impossible for the professor to watch all sides at once. When I was in LPN school they were much more strict about adequate room between those that were testing. At least one empty desk between each student and the class wasn't as large.
My question is..should I keep my mouth shut and keep it moving..or is this something that needs to brought to the professors attention. I think that I should bring it up..but if I had to I would want to bring it up anonymously. How do you guys feel because I am feeling a tad bit enraged at the persistent lack of integrity that is demonstrated amongst my classmates.:angryfire
Our nursing class is not only is required to move seats farther apart or facing the walls, there is more than one copy of the exam... if you glance over at your neighbor, his answers won't match your test. When I took A&P the classes were also huge. We also put up visual dividers between students so there was something blocking your eyes from wandering to your neighbor.
I do believe cheating is wrong, and I agree with the person who said you're as guilty as them, if you know but go to the instructor requesting improvements in testing.
Go to your nursing advisor or one of the instructors who you feel comfortable with. Tell them what you told us: it's just a concern you wanted to share with them.
I'm wondering: Can they hold the exam in a different room? Do multiple versions of the test? Get several volunteers from a higher level class to volunteer as proctors?
The best you can do is bring it to their attention. Then it's off your shoulders and up to the department to take action (or not).
Look at the bright side: they can cheat all they want now, but good luck passing the boards when he/she has nobody to cheat from. It will catch up with them eventually.
Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..
I would go to someone on the faculty that you trust, and share your concerns. As others have rightly written, it is not your job to be a detective or a judge, nor should you make accusations based on suspicion alone. However, if you have factual information about cheating in your school, you have an ethical duty to act. Exactly what action? I do not know because I do not know the facts. So, go to a trustworthy faculty member and share your concerns along with any facts you have, and let her provide you with counsel on whether you are obligated to do anything more.
If nursing truely is a profession, and not just a trade, than we hve to protect patients (including future patients) by living up to a high level of ethical behavior. If we do not police our own, others will, and nursing will no longer be a real profession.
Cheating is an ethical issue Period the END; there are no gray areas. If you personally witness it -You must report it. These are people who are going to care for patients, administer medication, make judgement calls. Are these the kind of people you want to work with or care for possibly your family member?
You need to make your instructors aware of what you heard & suspect. I agree with another response who said if you know someone is cheating & you don't report it, you are guilty as well. When you become a nurse if you find out a nurse is being dishonest you are expected to report this concern. There is no way to cheat on the NCLEX, but your school is judged according to NCLEX pass rate. If these students slide through school making to the NCLEX their failure could hurt your schools reputation. Also, by a slim chance they pass the NCLEX, what kind of nurses are they going to be?? Again, as stated before- I would not want them to be caring for me or my loved ones. Bottom line, when you become a nurse (nursing student)- it is your business what your fellow nurses (classmates) when they are going to have a person's life in their hands.
The king cheater in my school didn't just cheat at tests. He encouraged others to cheat paid for and in turn asked to be paid for cheating help. Had his girlfriend write papers for him. Set up with everyone not to participate in class when the professor (who thought he was wonderful and helped him get a job) asked questions and at postclinical conferences. Someone finally turned him in for consistently spending less than 2 hours at an 8 hour clinical, which had given him all that time to do extracurricular work to beef up hiss resume. He merely had to repeat that class! Yes it took him more than once to pass the nclex but he is now employed and you can bet nothing in his basic character has changed. as for those of you who think that the nclex can't be cheated on keep in mind that there was a massive (involving thousands) cheating scandal at one of their out of country locations just a couple of years back. It just happened to be where he was from. Are they still pretending there is a shortage and issuing HB visas? Are they still giving the nclex there? Yes.
Many people knew about his activities for a long time and did nothing. I say bravo for the person who turned him in. If you have no regard for the future patients then think of yourself and the current uber competitive job market.
I understand your concerns. I am about to graduate as an RN on Dec 17th. I do know its hard work and when YOU have prepared efficiently for an exam and the ones who did not, are getting scores equivalent to yours, or higher, can be very disappointing.
If I were in your shoes, I would suggest a cover sheet for exams which is what our instructors passed around first (just a blank sheet of typing paper). We folded it down the center and put our scantrons in it and slid our coversheet down as we proceeded further dow the scantron.
I would notify your professor and maybe he could have another proctor in the room as well. My microbiology class was in a classroom setting exactly like the one you are mentioning so I know how easy that is to cheat.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
NCLEX does not assure that a person will be a competent, capable and empathetic nurse any more than completing a program. Experience is the best teacher.
I think that what would make me angry is that this person is bold enough to place others on the spot with obvious cheating. However, I am not sure about getting involved with reporting without fully knowing the players (meaning the school administration, alliances between certain professors and students that may be questionable, etc...) because I have seen some shady things happen with professors who choose to let the cheater slide and meanwhile, harassment comes to the person who actually reported it, which, in my opinon is HORRIBLE. In fact, I have seen more support given to the cheaters than I have to the persons that decided to report it. This is one of the reasons why I was not impressed with nursing school on ANY level...I believe this goes on, not only in schools, but the place of work as well.
What I did to prevent being involved with any of this was to position myself to sit directly in front of the professor for each exam. While I cannot control what the others plan to do, I can certainly place myself where the professor can see ME, and at least know that I, myself did not cheat. And, because I could not turn around, I had no idea of what was actually going on behind me.
Anyway, as its been said you can't cheat on NCLEX!
Cheating is very near and dear to me, as I was accused of cheating on a test. I was even "frisked" by a female instructor in class in front of everyone. A "fellow student said I was cheating. never-mind I had failed the first 2 exams in that semester. Long story short, after filing a police report, and securing an attorney........ well, I held a lot of jobs in the balance if you know what I'm saying. In the end polices were changed fast.
So be sure you want to be the class nark, and make sure you have indisputable proof. I'm guessing your a lot younger than me, (I'm 41) kids like to talk big and lie if you follow me. So while I'm NOT defending the words or actions of possible cheaters, be absolutely sure. I'd say if there is
cheating the staff is well aware.
Funny thing is after ATI I had a 97% chance of passing NCLEX 1st time, After some mock NCLEX I had a 98%, after Kaplin I showed a 97% chance again, and I did pass NCLEX the 1st time. So I'm pretty sure I wasn't cheating.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
That is the main thing...be SURE before you act. And, it does not hurt to know the lay of the land, so to speak...the personalities of the professors and administration; because if they in fact, do not support you, it can make your life in school miserable.
There was a professor once who would walk to people and point the correct answer out. Another I know (who was the director of my program) gave the exam to her RN students the previous semester...not because she felt the exam was biased, but because she was highly competitive with the other one that taught the same class better than she did. This same professor made my life miserable not because I cheated, because I didn't...but because I studied HARD for my grades and it showed. I think she wanted me to pass, but not as high as I did, independent from her grimey behavior and ethics. Now, how do I know? The other PROFESSORS told me privately, and this made me uncomfortable. Because I was highly aware of alliances, dirty dealing and such, I made sure that I always sat at the front of the class in order to show and prove that I wasn't cheating.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Yes, cheating is unacceptable, shows a gross lack of integrity, and is indicative of the type of nurse those people will be. But what also concerns me is the rampant poor spelling and incorrect grammar usages displayed in the profession and on this very forum! Come on, people. Being a "professional" means a lot of things. If you don't know the difference between when to use "there," "their," and "they're" then you have no business calling yourself a professional.
It's an informal message board, not a dissertation, I would get over it. What authority do you have in telling people what they can and can not call themselves??
It's an informal message board, not a dissertation, I would get over it. What authority do you have in telling people what they can and can not call themselves??
I couldn't agree more with your Mi. It's a freaking forum written by nursing students... we are busy and probaly write these posts really fast so we can get on with our studies. So our grammer isn't perfect... big [blank]-ing deal. GET OVER IT AND STOP BEING AN ARROGANT JERK.
It's an informal message board, not a dissertation, I would get over it. What authority do you have in telling people what they can and can not call themselves??
And again. When I have a "professional" nurse over my bed... clearly the main thing I am concerned about is whether that person has proper grammar. The difference between their and there is EXTREAMLY important in the field of patient care... now thats sarcasm...lol
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CeilingCat, ASN, RN
209 Posts
Our nursing class is not only is required to move seats farther apart or facing the walls, there is more than one copy of the exam... if you glance over at your neighbor, his answers won't match your test. When I took A&P the classes were also huge. We also put up visual dividers between students so there was something blocking your eyes from wandering to your neighbor.
I do believe cheating is wrong, and I agree with the person who said you're as guilty as them, if you know but go to the instructor requesting improvements in testing.
Go to your nursing advisor or one of the instructors who you feel comfortable with. Tell them what you told us: it's just a concern you wanted to share with them.
I'm wondering: Can they hold the exam in a different room? Do multiple versions of the test? Get several volunteers from a higher level class to volunteer as proctors?
The best you can do is bring it to their attention. Then it's off your shoulders and up to the department to take action (or not).
Look at the bright side: they can cheat all they want now, but good luck passing the boards when he/she has nobody to cheat from. It will catch up with them eventually.