There are important ethical standards that must be followed in nursing master's programs and practice. Unethical behavior, such as academic dishonesty or breaching patient confidentiality, can have severe consequences like expulsion from school, loss of nursing licenses, lawsuits, and financial losses for healthcare organizations. Maintaining integrity and complying with ethical codes is vital for protecting patients and building trust in the nursing profession.

1. Ethics in a Nursing Program and Practice
Nurses promote patient healthcare outcomes, and they require a
balance while providing patient care. Nurses should avoid
causing harm to patients. Therefore, ethics in nursing enables
caregivers to understand healthcare dilemmas and make correct
decisions based on their values while operating within
stipulated guidelines. Unethical behaviors in a nursing master’s
program and practice lead to significant implications for losing
professional credibility and monetary matters.
The consequences of unethical behavior in a nursing master’s
program are the loss of professional credibility and
organizational reputation. For example, when students pursuing
a nursing master’s program at Ohio State University behave
unethically by cheating in exams, the institution can expel them.
In a nursing master’s program, nurses who are academically
dishonest can engage in fraudulent acts in medical practice
(Abusafia et al., 2018). Therefore, the Ohio State University
may opt to expel the master’s student because academic
integrity and ethical practice determine the quality of patient
care and outcomes.
Honesty is an essential ethical value that enhances nursing a
master’s program. The institution will expel a student engaging
in academic dishonesty in a nursing master’s program because it
violates trust in the nursing profession. Excommunicating the
student also prevents the institution from being liable for any
illegal medical action he may undertake (Allen et al., 2017). As
a result, it may require the Board of Nursing (BON) to revoke
the student’s nursing license to ensure he does not have
professional credibility and reputation in nursing practice.
The consequence of unethical behavior in nursing practice is
loss of financial and job opportunities. For example, a few
nurses at Lenox Hill Hospital breached nurse-patient
confidentiality through careless behaviors such as speaking

2. about patients in public spaces and discussing their illnesses on
telephones. Others shared patients’ details with third parties
(friends and family) without their consent. After Fox News
broadcasted this unethical behavior, the hospital incurred a
significant financial loss as investors withdrew their shares.
Additionally, patients whose information was shared without
their consent decided to sue Lenox Hill Hospital. Although the
medical facility compensated them, the patients did not return
to seek its healthcare services.
The two examples show that unethical behaviors in a nursing
master’s program and practice have significant implications.
They also indicate that the repercussions of unethical behavior
affect unethical and ethical professionals in nursing practice.
The medical facilities should ensure that nursing students and
graduates adhere to the nursing code of ethics.
References
Abusafia, A. H., Roslan, N. S., Yusoff, D. M., & Nor, M. Z. M.
(2018). Snapshot of academic dishonesty among Malaysian
nursing students: A single university experience. Journal of
Taibah University medical sciences, 13(4), 370-376.
Allen, C., Stanley, S., Cascoe, K., & Stennett, R. (2017).
Academic dishonesty among undergraduate nursing
students. International Archives of Nursing and Health
Care, 3(3), 1-3.
There are important consequences associated with failing to
comply with the ethical standards set forth in a master’s nursing
program. Academic dishonesty undermines the welfare of all
stakeholders in a graduate nursing program. Researchers have
demonstrated that students who commit dishonest acts in an
educational setting are more likely to also do so in a clinical
setting (Taghadosi et al., 2020). The absence of professional

3. integrity undermines the health of patients and reduces public
trust in the surrounding health care system. Failure to comply
with ethical statement also reduces the quality of the master's
nursing program and undermines the welfare of classmates and
professors. Developing a culture of professional integrity
among students increases the extent to which nursing schools
are producing the next generation of nurse leaders.
It is important to keep in mind that there are many different
types of unethical behaviors in a nursing master’s program.
Examples of academic dishonesty can include inadvertent
missteps such as accidental plagiarism. Even minor
transgressions may lead to on ethical actions that can eventually
become pervasive within a graduate level program (Taghadosi et
al., 2020). These are all reasons that it is very important to be
familiar with the standards of a Code of Ethics and to
understand the moral benchmarks that stakeholders are required
to adhere to.
Unethical behaviors in nursing practice are especially harmful
for traditionally underserved and vulnerable populations. They
can lead to a variety of adverse outcomes such as errors in
documentation and failure to report unethical behaviors among
peers and colleagues. In many cases, unethical behaviors may
be accidental or a product of a basic oversight. One example is
improper delegation of tasks. Delegation is often a fundamental
aspect of effective care delivery in a high-volume environment
in which practitioners must work together to meet high demand
for services. However, delegation to another person who is not a
registered nurse and who is not qualified to undertake a task is
illegal and unethical (Mueller & Vogelsmeier, 2014). Nurses
have a professional responsibility to perform independent tasks
in the context of nursing care, and they must do so
independently and professionally (Mueller & Vogelsmeier,
2014). Nursing care responsibilities are the sole responsibility
of nurses who have received independent professional training
for the specific role and purpose for which they are required to
fulfill. There is clear legal liability when nursing tasks are

4. delegated to someone who has not been professionally trained to
complete them. Just as importantly, this can entail unethical
actions that may undermine the quality of care throughout a
clinical organization.
Mueller, C., Vogelsmeier, A. (2014, May). Effective delegation:
understanding responsibility, authority, and
accountability. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(3), 20-27.
Taghadosi, M., Vailee, S., Aghajani, M. (2020). Noncompliance
with ethics in academic environments: A qualitative
study. BMC Nursing, DOI: 10.1186/s12912-021-00537-y