Students aren’t failing nursing — the system is failing them

Hi Educator,

You’ve seen it. A student hands in a suspiciously perfect assignment. Another “forgets” to cite a source. You catch fragments of AI-generated responses. And in the back of your mind, that sinking feeling grows: Are they even trying anymore?

It may feel like academic misconduct is getting worse. But in reality, it’s not new. It’s just faster, easier, and more visible.

What has changed? The learning environment — and the pressures students face within it.

Too often, we frame integrity lapses as a student problem. But the truth is:
Academic misconduct is an institutional issue. 

“Cheating is an appropriate response to a learning environment that is not working for the student.” (Lang, J., 2013, Cheating Lessons).

It reflects the systems we’ve built:

• Performance (grades) over learning

• Content overload instead of connection and meaningful activities

• Rigid policies with little time for reflection and no room for growth

When students feel unseen, unsupported, or unprepared, they reach for shortcuts. Not because they’re lazy, but because they’re human, trying to survive in a system that often forgets the “why” behind the work.

What if your students don’t need stricter rules — they need deeper roots?

When we help students build a professional identity grounded in integrity, presence, and clinical judgment, cheating starts to feel irrelevant. It no longer matches who they are becoming.

Because nurses don’t just follow codes of ethics — they embody them. But they need our help and role modeling to get there.

Explore clinical judgment tools in our Think Like a Nurse Membership that help students think, feel, and act like nurses:

• Clinical case studies that connect judgment to real-world decisions

• Reflective questions that help students see themselves as future nurses

• Practice Dilemma case studies that incorporate the ANA Code of Ethics

If you're tired of feeling like the “integrity police,” you’re not alone. Because integrity isn’t a policy. It’s a practice that starts in your classroom.

With gratitude,