Critical Thinking, Plagiarizing, and Turn-It-In

¶ … career prospects in healthcare, I would recommend nursing.

The American Nurses Association explains that because of the vast increases in the number of people that are over 65 and the healthcare services they are going to need, nurses will continue to be in demand (ANA). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that there is a continuing nursing shortage and that the number of nurses graduating from nursing school with a bachelor's degree has grown by 86% over the past five years but that is still "too small" to fill the needs (HRSA).

Also of concern with regards to the nursing shortage is the fact that an estimated 269,100 RNs will be retiring in the next year or so, and 81,000 current RNs are planning to go to part-time work (ASA). The nation needs to train and educate 1.13 million new RNs in order to meet the challenges by 2022; this also takes into account the additional nursing staffing created by the Affordable Care Act which gives millions of people access to the healthcare system. Assuming somehow Congress or the Supreme Court don't cancel the Affordable Care Act (taking insurance away from 11 million people), there is going to be a need for more nurses. The answer again is, nursing; there is no doubt whatsoever that there will be jobs available for newly trained RNs.

So the bottom line is, if a person wants to train for a position in healthcare, training as a nurse absolutely assures that person will find a job. The nursing shortage is expected to grow, not shrink, hence, go into nursing for a career and you'll find work for sure.

TWO: A fellow student is obviously cutting and pasting copy from a source online. The first thing I would do after seeing him plagiarize -- and even before I find his paper in the printer -- is to remind the student that the professor uses Turn-it-in. That means there is no doubt that the blocks of copy he has cut and pasted from Internet sources will be discovered. I would not make a moral issue out of it, because if he wants to risk his grade -- and perhaps risk getting a zero for the class -- that is his problem. But as a colleague who sits right next to him, I would remind him that his plagiarism will be detected and he'll pay a serious price for it. It is not my job to tell the professor he is cheating, and so I would not go to that extreme. But it is a fair thing for a fellow student to do to remind that individual that plagiarizing blocks of copy will absolutely be discovered by the professor. It will be painful to get a zero, or maybe even to be dismissed from the class for such an obviously deceptive research paper.

THREE: A moment when I got a negative evaluation -- how did I feel?

I heard there was a new program director coming from Houston to take over a position at a radio station in the city where I was living. I had planned to apply for a job there, and I had read about a creative way to get the attention of a potential boss just starting out in a new position. I put together a wicker basket presentation, with locally grown fruit and wine in a nice arrangement, and asked his secretary to put it on his desk, so when he comes in for his first day, he sees it with my card.

Well the program director of the radio station appreciated the welcome gift, and he gave me an interview; after that, he gave me an audition, which I passed quite well. He said he really like my voice and he would try and put me in a position to do sports. "You have a sports voice," he said. But when I was called in to start my first shift, they put me on a Sunday morning to do news headlines. I was pleased to get the opportunity, and I did my best, writing and reading 2-minute news headlines every half hour for four hours.