Upholding the Value of Certification — What is Cheating? 

Cheating comes in many forms; following are several examples:

• Looking at another’s paper exam or computer screen  
• Asking someone for the answer to an item 
• Bringing electronic equipment into the testing center or exam room 
• Bringing in cheat sheets or information you’d have access to during an exam 
• Looking at any notes or resources in the restroom during an exam 
• Dumping or sharing information about a certification exam in social media 
• Providing any information about items you recall from an exam to share with your review course instructor or employer 
• Talking about item-specific exam content 
• Forging a signature (e.g., program director, verifier, employer, colleague) 
• Adding information to a form previously signed by another 
• Falsely representing yourself as someone else 
• Lying about your clinical practice hours 
• Falsely verifying clinical practice hours for another nurse 
• Falsifying documentation about CEs or CERPs 
• Not disclosing disciplinary action against your RN or APRN license to AACN Certification Corporation 
• Providing false information on your certification exam or renewal application 
• Misrepresenting yourself as certified if not currently certified 

This list is not all inclusive. Are you able to think of other examples of cheating? To suggest an addition to this list, please email us at certification@aacn.org.

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