Promoting Academic Integrity and Professionalism Within an Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Program

Nursing students are expected to develop professional values and assume accountability for personal and professional behaviors. The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice curriculum guidelines emphasize that professional values are a foundation of nursing practice. At the master’s level graduates are expected to demonstrate leadership skills through effective communication and collaboration that also includes conflict resolution strategies. Furthermore, the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements requires nurses to practice with compassion and respect for all people and the interpretive statements address the need for nurses to extend that respect to coworkers, colleagues, employees, students, and others. In addition, nurses are to create an ethical environment and a culture that is free of incivility. Baccalaureate and master’s nursing students must function as professionals in all settings. Professional behaviors apply to clinical and classroom settings but also include the need for academic honesty. Students need to understand academic and professional integrity. Faculty can help by creating a healthy learning environment that addresses expected behaviors and continually focuses on the development of professionalism.

This presentation will address the growing problem of academic dishonesty and unprofessional behaviors that exist in nursing education. The presentation will share the development of a faculty ad hoc committee that focused on creating a healthy learning environment to promote academic integrity and professionalism among undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Academic and professional issues specific to each level of nursing student will be shared. The presentation will include how a module was created to address these issues including the development of short Power point presentations and video vignettes. Examples of Power point content will include definitions of academic integrity and professionalism and the need for a code of conduct. Additional Power point content examples will emphasize the need for clear guidelines of academic integrity, how to prevent plagiarism, and expectations of professional behaviors in the classroom and clinical settings. The use of video vignettes and strategies for developing these will be discussed. Tips for creating academic and professional integrity modules will be included along with details for an implementation plan. Lessons learned and continued strategies for promoting healthy learning environments will also be shared.