I LIED to a professor

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I lied to a professor. When asked about an abnormal number on a patients documentation and asked if I did a follow up on an abnormal number I panicked and lied and said that I did.(I went and rechecked my patient after this to make sure she was okay and the number turned out to be a fluke.) I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I LIED! I am not a liar in general, I hate lying and yet I just did. I am under a tremendous amount of pressure as my family is completely broke and if I don't finish school there is no way I could pay off the 26000 in student debt, plus I have had insomnia for the last two weeks. But I am disgusted with myself and feel incredibly guilty. Additionally I think she knows As I said I do not lie usually and my ability to so is abysmal. I highly respect this professor and what she thinks of me. She was singing my praises all semester, and I wanted to be the perfect student and now I'm despicable. And I have always valued my moral compass :( I want to come clean. But am terrified ( whole body is shaking as I write this.) Has any student fessed up on here and were they expelled? I want to do the right thing but I don't want my whole future to be jeopardized in doing so.

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You have nothing to gain by reporting yourself to the instructor. I can assure you that you have punished yourself enough if not too much over this incident. Get some rest and put yourself together so that you don't continue making this type of mistake or you will really have a problem that will impede your progress in school.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

Calm down. You are so stressed that you are not thinking or behaving in your usual manner. You can apologize to the instructor, or wait till after graduation and then apologize. If you apologize now, do not give excuses, but it would not hurt to ask her if she has any advice on coping with stress. You said you want to be "perfect". Guess what. You will never be that, so lighten up. Think of this as a learning experience - you learned that it hurt you more than anyone. But beating yourself up will not lessen the stress. I pray you find peace soon.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

On the positive side, you went back and checked and made sure that the patient was OK. That's the most important thing.

I'm not sure what I would do in your shoes -- probably say nothing and hope nothing comes of it. If I were the professor and a student came to me and confessed something like that, I would not be harsh IF they had gone back to check. I might make a slight deduction in the grade for the clinical -- and might assign the student an extra little project on a related topic -- but I would be forgiving and not jeopardize the student's career for coming clean.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes, the best we can do is forgive ourselves, learn from it, and move forward.

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Thank you ladies, My professor is constantly stressing that we learn from our mistakes. I think I am going to come clean and see what happens. :( im terrified but I feel better about it.

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

I really wouldn't and not fess up to something that may not even be ob your instructors mind. Learn from this and go forward.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Yep. I would just let it go. Don't make an issue of it with the professor.Deep breath. It will be OK.

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Dude, calm down. You've got yourself so keyed up that you're going to continue to do things out of character. Take a chill break. Relax. Have a beer or something.

Do some self-hypnosis, if you're into that, or set up some aromatherapy. Or take a long walk in the woods. Just do something not nursing related for a couple of hours.

Do you normally have anxiety? If not, you may want to check with a mental health professional to see if you're developing an anxiety disorder.

Make sure you are calm and collected if you decide to approach your professor. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but I think it says a lot of good things about your integrity that you are considering it.

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I'd keep quiet.

you DID learn from this! You learned not to lie. I think you've gotten yourself into such a tizzy that you are doing far more punishment to yourself than the instructor could.

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If they catch you in a lie you can be thrown out of the program. But at least you learned something from it. I have done the same thing as you and am sure many others have also. Nursing school is the most stressful thing I have ever done and I am older. Don't sweat it!

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I wouldn't fess up. You learned from it, move on. I'm sure your instructor has too.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

What advice would you give a friend if he/she were in the SAME position you are in?

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