Question

integrity in nursing studenrs: a concept analysis

Answer 1

Being a nursing student the person become morally accountable and responsible for his/her judgment and actions and it is central to the role to develop as a moral agent. The nurse ’s practice with moral integrity has a strong sense of autonomy and they behave consistently with what is the right thing to do.

Nursing student integrity is essential to develop efficient and competent nurses. The defining attributes of nursing student integrity are honesty, ethical behaviour and professionalism. The precursors of integrity are the strong academic culture of respect. It is characterized by s strong student-faculty relationships derived from mutual respect, trust and a shared learning goal. The faculty role models of integrity were paramount in building a culture of honesty.

Nursing is considered the highest of professions with honesty and ethical standards. The ANA Code of Ethics and Interpretive Statements summons the nurses to value the profession of nursing and to demonstrate qualities which preserve wholeness of character and integrity. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics for Nurses (2012) points out the professional values of nursing as respectfulness, responsiveness, compassion, trustworthiness and integrity. The importance of honesty, integrity and professionalism among nurses obliges the need of nursing students to equally value these qualities.

The environmental pressure to succeed imposes some sort of dishonesty like cheating in exams in nursing students similar to many university students. The educators must be concerned about academic cheating behaviours because of the causal link to future unethical behaviours in professional practice.

The increasing demand for nurses to exhibit the knowledge, attitudes and skills associated with moral, ethical and legal behaviours as they provide care for patient populations stresses the integrity. The understanding and commitment to integrity are paramount in the current profession as the students are required to enter a fast-paced and demanding healthcare industry characterized by high acuity patients and understaffed nursing units. The role transition preparation during the final year of education can improve the nursing student's awareness of the value of integrity in practice, and makes them face many situational challenges.

Academic and professional integrity are equally valued and essential qualities of nursing students. Nursing literature considers integrity as associated with honest, ethical and moral behaviours. Honesty, morality, ethics, honour and trustworthiness can be the synonyms for integrity in the nursing profession.

In order to develop the high level of integrity required by the nursing profession, it is recommended to include, honour codes and integrity policies containing clear explanations and reinforcements throughout the program of study.

The nursing literature helps in the conceptualization of the term integrity as it relates to academic integrity, moral integrity, honour codes, personal responsibility and individual accountability. The nursing literature approach differs from much of the other literature which focuses on behaviours such as cheating, lying and plagiarism which depict a lack of integrity. The nursing integrity can be measured by differentiating student decisions concerning behaviors that characterize integrity.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) considers nursing as a caring profession, which demands the nurses to demonstrate empathy. They must embody the five core values of professional nursing such as human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice.

The integrity can be the sum of actions in accordance with an appropriate code of ethics and accepted standards of practice. The behaviours like provision of honest information to patients and the public, documentation of care accurately and honestly, solution of errors made by self or others and exhibiting accountability for one's own actions.

While delivering the nursing care the personal morality and group morality impact the presence or absence of integrity. The ethical standards and principles also affect the integrity.

The honesty, ethical behaviour and professionalism are considered as the three defining attributes of integrity. Honesty developed and maintained in the student life must be retained in the professional life. The nurse’s obligation to the society is must be based on ethical behaviour. Student nurses must be taught about the ethical behaviours and the importance of it in the society. The nursing students are must be encouraged to reflect on personal maturity, morality and self-knowledge in order to be a professional. The morally sound actions related to the code of ethics which represent the values and guidelines of the profession of nursing are deemed professional.

The Nursing faculty must create academic environments of high integrity to become the role models to the students. By developing a culture of academic integrity, rigorous learning, fair expectations and personal accountability the students will be able to demonstrate professionalism in their clinical practice.