I LIED to a professor

[Peonies n posie]

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.

[smmctowelie69]

You made a mistake patient is ok thats the important thing relax and learn from it

[George O'Malley]

Learn and move on. The two weeks or whatever of stress/insomnia and self-hate was punishment enough.

If it were me, in the event it happened again: I'd stop yourself and say sorry, I misspoke, I need to recheck those numbers. Honesty and Integrity over time prove that you are reliable and worthy of responsibility.

Take it for what its worth. Do what you think is right in the end and it'll happen one way or another

[Simonesays, BSN, RN]

That's awesome that you followed your conscience, made the choice that was best for you, and had a good outcome with your professor. One other thing to keep in mind is that you are a student. As a student, you are learning. You are expected to improve your time-management, hone your prioritization skills, provide safe and compassionate patient care, etc. It may seem that you are expected to be perfect but no one expects that from you now as a student or in the future once you are a seasoned practicing nurse. We are all human and we all make mistakes!!

As a student nurse, you are responsible for providing care to your patients that is within your scope of practice. But you are also working under a more experienced nurse. That nurse should be assisting you with your learning by supporting you even when you don't know you need it. For example, I always ask the students I work with to check with me after their patient assessments before administering medications. This prevents assessment findings from being overlooked (a new nurse might not see something as being clinically significant while I do) and can prevent medication-related complications. So while you have a responsibility for your actions, don't be too hard on yourself! It is a joint responsibility. Good luck with the rest of your program! It sounds like you're doing well and your integrity is something you should be really proud of.