Rewrite for cheating nurses

Court rules Nursing Council was correct in nullifying exams

THOUSANDS of nurses may have cheated in exams they wrote in May to improve their qualifications. This could constitute a crisis in the health system – affecting patients’ and doctors’ trust in nurses’ honesty and skills – according to experts.

One ethicist said the nurses should be struck off the roll.

On May 10‚ staff nurses with a two-year qualification who already work at clinics and hospitals‚ wrote first- or second-year bridging course exams from a course that qualifies them to become better trained “registered nurses”, who earn more and have more responsibilities.

According to court papers filed by the South African Nursing Council‚ many nurses saw the exam papers before they wrote them‚ while some had the answer memos.

The Nursing Council was correct in nullifying the May exams and calling for a rewrite‚ the Pretoria High Court has confirmed.

In his judgment, Judge Hans Fabricius quoted affidavits by the Nursing Council suggesting the cheating was so pervasive that it was justified in nullifying the exams and making every nurse rewrite them.

“It is clear from the affidavits that thousands of student nurses are involved in at least four provinces [it is not yet certain whether the irregularities concerned any of the other provinces],” he wrote.

The provinces known to be affected are KwaZulu-Natal‚ Mpumalanga‚ Western Cape and Gauteng.

The SA Nursing Council sent out a letter to all nursing colleges and nursing unions on June 12 to alert them to the cheating, saying it had no option but to order that the exams be rewritten.

Instead of condemning the cheating‚ unions have fought to stop the compulsory rewrites and then fought over when the rewrites should be done.

The unions, including Hospersa, were enraged, saying it was unfair to make all 10 000 nurses rewrite the exams. Hospersa general secretary Noel Desfontaines said at the time: “To order a rewrite of an examination at such short notice will place untold and undue stresses on the learners from both a financial and workplace aspect.

“Some learners may not even be timeously advised.”

But in court‚ Hospersa and the Nursing Council came to an agreement that the rewrite, initially scheduled for the end of last month, would now be held on July 19 and 21.

“We believe the order was a good one as it addressed the varying concerns of all our members‚ at the same time keeping the integrity of the examinations intact‚” Desfontaines said.

“Hospersa requests the council investigate claims that the June 28 rewrite paper was also available to some students before the [cancelled] examination date.”

Denosa has said the council must blame itself for the leak.

“The investigation must not be prejudicial to any of students, who often get punished for something that the council shouldn’t have allowed in the first place,” it said. Denosa spokesman Sibongiseni Delihlazo said the union had evidence the exam paper for June 28 was also leaked.

He said if the council could not identify where the leaks were coming from‚ they could happen again before this month’s exams.

Pharmacist‚ ethicist and medical law practitioner Shafrudeen Amod said: “Ethical accountability must be demanded of both the SA Nursing Council‚ as to how the answer memo was leaked and, more importantly, from the nurses who found it ‘normal’ to cheat.

“A collective degree of responsibility must be taken.”

He called for the cheating nurses to be struck off the roll.

The SA Nursing Council did not respond to requests for comment, saying its spokesman was sick.

It is clear that thousands of student nurses are involved