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

Abstract

BackgroundThe 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. ObjectivesThe 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. DesignA cross-sectional study. SettingsA major university in central Israel. ParticipantsNursing 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. MethodsThe 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. ResultsSignificant 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). ConclusionThe 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.