Professional Nursing Students’ Attitudes on Cheating in Online Courses

Abstract

Online course delivery is an educational modality where academic integrity may be compromised among nursing students. With the explosion of online educational programs in nursing, especially those at the graduate level, it is concerning to educators that students would participate in dishonest behaviors such as cheating. The purpose of this study was to examine nursing student’s attitudes regarding coursework and cheating in online education.

Sixty-three (n=63) students enrolled in an online nursing course participated in the study.  All participants in the study were registered nurses who were admitted to advance their education at the baccalaureate or graduate level via an online program of study.  Our findings revealed that students do admit to cheating and 25% of students surveyed reported using notes, a textbook or someone else doing their work during an online examination.