The Connection between Academic and Professional Integrity (Essay Sample)

Academic Success and Professional Development Plan
Name
Institution
Part 3, Section 1: The Connection between Academic and Professional Integrity
Becoming a nurse goes beyond qualifications, credentials, and excellent clinical skills; it is about having integrity both in the academic level and in nursing practice. The question of integrity has been debated over the years and one of the themes of the past debates is that the nursing profession must have integrity (Boykins & Gilmore, 2012). It requires personnel with impeccable ethical standards and a code of conduct that reflects the spirit of the profession. It is important to understand the connection between academic and professional integrity in nursing with regards to the issue of cheating and its impact on the nursing profession.
To be a professional nurse one must procure the necessary academic qualifications. The problem is that there are numerous cases of dishonesty in the process of procuring the required academic credentials. The backlash of such dishonesty is that it has a spillover effect in the nursing practice (Glasper, 2016). A student who became a nurse through dishonesty and cheating is not likely to be an ethical or professional nurse. To understand the question of integrity one must draw the connection between nursing as an academic course and nursing as a professional practice. The nursing practice is basically a reflection of what goes on in the career paths of the nurses. Most importantly, one must understand that being a student of honor and integrity entails honesty. A student who is honest and works for their academic grades and qualifications is likely to become a nurse who values ethics and professionalism in practice. That is the essence of connecting academic and professional integrity.
Part 3, Section 2: Strategies for Maintaining Integrity of Work
In light of the concerns raised regarding integrity both at the academic and the professional levels, I have designed a blueprint to help be mold my nursing career both academically and professionally. As a student of the MSN program, I intend to follow the nursing doctrine, which entails ethics and integrity. I have designed a personal philosophy with the mantra ‘do no harm.’ At the academic level, I will dedicate myself to honesty and hard work. I will not partake in any practices that will undermine the need to get a genuine grade to reinforce my academic qualifications. My academic research and course work will be a reflection of my true understanding of the course. I have a strict commitment to anti-plagiarism.
Once I get my genuine score in the course, I will proceed into nursing practice under t