List three examples of plagiarism and discuss how plagiarizing as a student affects the integrity of a baccalaureate degree, the public perception of the nursing profession, and evidence-based practice. Describe two things you will do to ensure academic integrity in your work.

Plagiarism can be either accidental or deliberate. In many cases, students do not deliberately seek to steal the thoughts or ideas of other authors. If the resource that they are quoting, summarizing, or referencing is not correctly and completely cited, giving ample credit to the original author the student would then be guilty of committing plagiarism. There are instances unfortunately, when students intentionally buy or steal another person’s written work, thereby also committing plagiarism, making it a deliberate act. It is troubling to read that this is a growing trend in the area of nursing. Nursing is a profession that has a long standing history known for ethical integrity and trust. (Falkner, 2018)

Paraphrasing occurs when you restate another person’s works or thoughts into your words and thoughts, however staying true to the same idea. (Falkner, 2008) Plagiarism occurs when the thoughts and ideas were not adequately specialized from the original author’s words; the person is not given credit for the original thought or content. If the thoughts are not identified as being completely differentiated, plagiarism can occur. Paraphrasing sounds to be an easy task, however it is often a form of plagiarism. Paraphrasing takes thought and practice, however is a useful tool in conveying support to thoughts shared.

With the popularity and convenience of online learning, it is easier than ever to commit plagiarism with more intentional methods. The use of purchasing academic assignments is a quick fix for some. This is deliberate plagiarism. The thought of submitting another person’s work for my own work is incorrigible. Along this thought, pictures, graphs, charts and images found on the internet must also be cited, or the borrower will be in violation of bootlegging another’s work.

Plagiarism may be also accomplished when summarizing a work. Summarizing occurs when a writer does a general overview of a written work. If the summarizer does not do a thorough enough job putting the information into their own words, or if they fail to cite the referenced material, they could commit plagiarism. Summarizing, similar to paraphrasing may seem simple; however it is another common way that academic work is stolen. One reason may be because the one summarizing did not fully understand what they are interpreting. If you take your time, ask questions, clarify and fully understand the idea you are sharing, you can avoid plagiarism.

The nursing profession has long been identified amongst the most trusted professionals by Americans; ranking number 1 for the previous 19 years (Gaines, 2021). In nursing school, the Nightingale pledge is recited by new nursing graduates; recognizing the importance of ethical and integrity be upheld in all situations. (Miracle,2009). Integrity of one’s person and presentation should be established and upheld into a baccalaureate program and carried through to the profession as a whole. Evidenced-based practice (EBP) is the foundation of nursing care. EBP facilitates change in the profession of nursing practices which is based upon research. If the data for which practices in nursing is founded are not concrete and acknowledged, the credibility of the nursing profession as a whole is shaken. (Falkner, 2018) A nurse who cannot uphold academic integrity in research and evidenced-based practice jeopardizes how we are portrayed in the nursing profession as a whole.

Ensuring trust of the public is an ethical and moral obligation that I feel is absolutely vital in nursing. If I study and understand the topics and information available to me, I not only will contribute to my education, but I will then have the ability to paraphrase and summarize the resources that are presented and avoid plagiarizing the work of others. The nursing profession will then be reinforced with truth, integrity and trust.

I plan to utilize the GCU resources that have been provided to me which will allow me to write meaningful, intelligent and evidenced-based concepts that also contribute to my education and the nursing profession. The authors and contributors of those resources have put a lot of work and thought into the articles that I will use to support critical thought processes and academic contributions. Not only is appropriate to give them the credit to those who put in the work, it is the ethical and moral obligation. An obligation that is integral to the nursing profession as a whole.