Profiling nursing students’ dishonest behaviour: Classroom versus clinical settings

Abstract

Background While academic dishonesty among nursing students is becoming a global problem, the instruments used in studies on this topic are heterogeneous and, in many cases, not even validated. This makes it difficult or impossible to compare the findings on a global scale. Objectives To investigate the profile of Croatian nursing students’ dishonest behaviour in classroom and clinical settings and to examine the relationship between the incidence of dishonest behaviour in both settings. Research design A quantitative cross-sectional study using a Croatian online version of the Nursing Student Perceptions of Dishonesty Scale (overall Cronbach’s alpha 0.933) . Participants and research context 446 nursing students from a higher education institution in Croatia, EU, in the academic year 2020/21. Ethical considerations The study was approved by the relevant committee of the higher education institution. Findings/results Almost all participants (91.3%) performed dishonest behaviour on two or more occasions in the classroom and 32.5% did so in the clinical setting. The incidence of dishonest behaviour increased with the students’ year of BSc study ( p = .008). All subscales of dishonest behaviour in the classroom were significantly and positively associated with dishonest behaviour in the clinical setting, except for the Not My Problem and Non-Compliance subscales. Discussion Based on these results, the following should be taken into consideration: 1) dishonest behaviour in the classroom is associated with dishonest behaviour in the clinical setting; 2) even the slightest occurrence of dishonest behaviour in the clinical setting can lead to fatal events. Conclusions The gradual increase in BSc nursing students’ dishonest behaviour with their year of study raises several questions regarding the development of ethical and moral values in this population. This raises the need for early and continuous exposure of students to ethical content from the beginning of their studies and support from competent educators.

Development and validation of a questionnaire about reasons for academic cheating by nursing students: A cross-sectional study

“…[4,6,[8][9][10] In the classroom, nearly every Croatian nursing student (91.3%) engaged in dishonest behavior twice or more. [11] Another study found that up to 88% of South African nursing students admitted to engaging in dishonest behaviors at least once. [12] Further, the secondary account of observing other students cheating or indulging in academic dishonesty was high.…”

“…Unethical practices and cheating have been observed even in clinical settings, with about one-third of nursing students indulging in cheating during clinical duties. [ 11 ] There has been considerable research exploring unethical and dishonest practices and cheating in nursing students. Lovrić and Žvanut [ 11 ] reviewed original articles and summarized empirical evidence that the practice of cheating and dishonest methods is malignant among nursing students worldwide.…”

“…[ 11 ] There has been considerable research exploring unethical and dishonest practices and cheating in nursing students. Lovrić and Žvanut [ 11 ] reviewed original articles and summarized empirical evidence that the practice of cheating and dishonest methods is malignant among nursing students worldwide. While conventional kinds of cheating behaviors still exist, new opportunities arising from technology have made cheating more accessible to more students and more difficult to catch.…”

“…[ 13 ] Because of these ever-evolving methods and trends of cheating, a continuous research effort is needed to keep up with the changing facets of cheating. [ 6 , 8 , 11 ] This continuous effort may help in exploring methods to contain and manage cheating.…”

“…The items of the tool were developed to appraise conventional and newer methods of cheating based on recent evidence. [ 6 , 8 , 11 , 13 – 15 ] Previous questionnaires exploring cheating practices have not included comprehensive strategies and measures of validation. Therefore, in this study, an in-depth robust method employing multiple measures of classical and item response theory parameters was used to explore and establish the validity of the newly developed tool.…”