Introduction: Upholding integrity in nursing education is vital, as academic dishonesty may translate into professional misconduct, ultimately impacting patient care and public trust in the profession. This study examines the role of nurse academics in identifying and addressing GenAI-related breaches, highlighting the need for consistent awareness, reporting practices, and institutional support.

Description: The rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) threatens academic integrity when students misuse and misrepresent assessment content as their original work. Addressing academic misconduct is crucial, given the correlation between academic and professional misconduct. The threat of severe punishment could be one of the most effective ways to stop academic misconduct in nursing students. Nurse Academics are the first line to detect academic misconduct and initiate investigations. Inconsistencies in their awareness and reporting practices can lead to some breaches going unaddressed, undermining institutional academic integrity policies and may lead to inaccurate evaluation of future nurses’ competence.

Methods: Employing a two-phase sequential explanatory design, this study first investigated Nursing academics’ awareness, perceptions and perceived facilitators and barriers to reporting GenAI-related breaches through a qualitative survey. Semi-structured interviews expanded on the quantitative findings, captured deeper qualitative insights into academic's challenges and support needs in the GenAI context.

Through descriptive, inferential, and thematic analyses, this study investigates potential correlations between academics' demographics, perceptions and awareness of students’ unethical use of Gen-AI and their self-efficacy in identifying and reporting such behaviours. These results offered valuable insights into the challenges academics face and the support they require in this process.

Conclusion: This study enhances diversity and inclusion by providing insights into tailored support mechanisms such as training resources, clear guidelines, and streamlined reporting processes that consider the diverse backgrounds and needs of nursing academics. By fostering integrity in nursing education, it ensures future nurses uphold professionalism, integrity and patient safety in clinical practice.