Perspectives on academic misconduct: implications for education and practice.

From Harvard to high school, concern related to academic misconduct, specifically cheating and its impact on societal issues, has become a great concern for educational communities. While a significant number of studies on ethical behaviors in practice in other professions such as business have been published, little research exists on registered nurses in practice. Even fewer studies have, for registered nurses, addressed if there is an association between perceived academic misconduct as students and perceived unethical behaviors in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between perceptions of registered professional nurses' (RNs) current workplace behaviors and the RNs' retrospective perceptions of their academic misconduct as students. A convenience sample of 1 66 RNs enrolled in master's degree programs at four university schools of nursing completed questionnaires regarding their beliefs and behaviors. The outcome of this study was significant. Results revealed a strong relationship between unethical behaviors of the RN in practice and their prior academic misconduct when they were students.

Impressions of the Nursing Profession Among Nursing Students and New Graduates During the First Wave of COVID-19: A Qualitative Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a defining event for the next generation of the nursing workforce. Complex pandemic practice environments have raised concerns for the preparation and support of novice nurses, even as a multitude of nurses leave the profession. PURPOSE: Researchers sought to examine nursing students' and new graduate nurses' impressions of the nursing profession in contrasting regions of New York State during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Inductive content analysis was performed on narrative text responses (n = 295) drawn from a larger multisite mixed-methods survey. RESULTS: Five subconcepts were abstracted, leading to the main concept of shocked moral distress . CONCLUSION: Nursing students and new graduate nurses have experienced high levels of moral distress but remain committed to the profession. Building moral resilience, fostering ethical decision making, and implementing protective policies can reduce the incidence of moral distress.

The Future Capacity of the Nursing Workforce: COVID-19 Pandemic's Impacts on New Nurses and Nursing Students Toward the Profession.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are concerned for their safety and conflicted about their career, because their duty to care for patients during the pandemic involved competing ethical obligations, including their own personal safety. PURPOSE: The aim was to explore the impact of COVID-19 on new nurses and nursing students in terms of safety and interest in nursing specifically related to self-efficacy, geographic region case density, and frontline experience in health care. METHODS: New nurses and nursing students (N = 472) responded to an online survey examining self-efficacy, sense of safety, and interest in nursing. The survey included an open-ended question to support response interpretation. RESULTS: Researchers identified significant differences among new nurses and students from contrasting case-dense regions in terms of safety and interest in nursing. CONCLUSION: Concerns about personal safety and the safety of others were apparent. Over time, this may lead to a decrease in willingness to enter or remain in the nursing profession.

Innovations in the public policy education of nursing students.

Nurses are the voice of patients. Nurses speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Today's nurses need to find their voice and discover the power of public policy as a vehicle for patient-centered care. New York is a vast and varied state with multiple, competing healthcare interests. Nurses in New York need to be prepared to navigate the halls of power as patient-centered advocates. Nurses benefit from an education that teaches them to move comfortably in complex healthcare environments. This article describes the integration of an innovative, curricula-wide, public policy initiative with senior nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program. We discuss the overall goals of the learning-centered program and the specific classroom and field assignments. Students described the results of this innovative teaching strategy as a life-changing event where they find their voice as an agent for their patients.