Using a nursing student conduct committee to foster professionalism among nursing students

This article explains how a university nursing program in the United States created and implemented a nursing student code of conduct and a faculty-led nursing student conduct committee to review and adjudicate violations of academic or professional misconduct. The need for and role of the nursing student conduct committee in providing substantive and fair due process is illustrated with two cases. Professional misconduct has been associated with preventable error and patient safety and is of great concern to nurse educators who are entrusted with producing the next generation of nursing professionals. Accountability and consequences for violations of professional standards must be an integral part of the nursing education curriculum throughout the world to ensure quality and safety and mitigate the adverse effects of nursing error. Given the professional and patient safety implication of such violations, the authors believe that it is prudent to have nursing programs adjudicate nursing majors' professional violations as an alternative or supplement to the general university judicial board.