An honest cheater: perception of self-concept, academic and clinical dishonesty among nursing students.

BACKGROUND: The Self-Concept Maintenance Theory emphasizes the internal moral principles of the individual and their influence on self-perception of personal identity. They also inform the way in which an individual catalogues their behavior. For instance, a nursing student who is academically dishonest, yet justifies their behavior in rational terms. They act with dishonesty, yet their self-concept is of an honest person. OBJECTIVES: The study examined the extent of dishonesty in nursing education (includes academic and clinical), the perception of self-concept vis-à-vis dishonesty, and the relationship between academic and clinical dishonesty among nursing students. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTINGS: A major university in central Israel. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing students (n = 343), the age range is 19-58 and 80% women. Academically, 37% come from a professional post-graduate program, 32% from a baccalaureate program, and 31% from a nursing professional retraining program. METHODS: The research tool that was disseminated to the participants is based on the Student Academic Dishonesty Questionnaire. The tool examined actual academic and clinical honesty/dishonesty, behavior cataloging by students, their internal principles, and perception of self-concept relating to honesty/dishonesty. RESULTS: Significant relationships were found between all model variables, with no differences noted between programs and the number of years to the degree. Academic dishonesty was reported by 41% of the students with 11% reporting clinical dishonesty. Academic dishonesty was related to clinical dishonesty (χ2 = 34.752; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study findings are most troubling due to the direct impact of dishonesty on patients' treatment, outcomes and the graduates' professional level. Dishonesty can lead to significant deficiencies in knowledge, professionalism and expertise of the future professional. This state of affairs can be detrimental to the quality of patient treatment. Thus, dishonesty in academic and clinical education has devastating consequences for individual patients and the health and safety of the broader community.

A mixed-methods assessment of the transition to a dedicated educational unit: nursing students' perceptions and achievements.

BACKGROUND: In 2019, our nursing school shifted clinical instruction from the traditional model to the Dedicated Educational Unit (DEU). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the DEU learning atmosphere, instruction quality, clinical instructor's performance and students' grades. METHODS: A sample of 45 nursing students completed the CLES-T; 10 of them participated in a focus group. Students' grades in the DEU and traditional models were compared. RESULTS: Students (77.6%) ranked the DEU outcomes as "good"-"excellent;" "nursing care on the unit" and the "clinical faculty's ability to integrate theory and practice" were the highest and lowest ranked categories, respectively. The focus group revealed dichotomous opinions regarding the unit atmosphere and the professional performance of the nurse manager and staff. Students in the DEU framework attained higher grades than did their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical instructors need specific training; the clinical staff and nurse managers should be informed about the unit atmosphere's impact on students' future professional decisions.