Ethics and professional conduct
Posting, messaging, advertising and speaking publicly online as a registered health practitioner in Aotearoa New Zealand
Doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dental practitioners, paramedics, psychologists, physiotherapists and other practitioners registered under the HPCA Act 2003, plus practice owners, managers and clinical leaders responsible for social media policy.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
This course covers the whole of a health practitioner's online life in New Zealand: personal accounts and professional pages, closed groups and team chats, messaging with patients, looking people up online, filming at work, public commentary on health issues, advertising, sponsorship and influencer content, online reviews, generative AI tools, and what happens when an online post becomes a complaint or a charge. It explains how the familiar duties of confidentiality, boundaries, honesty and respect apply in a medium that is instant, permanent and very public.
It is written for doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dental practitioners, paramedics, psychologists, physiotherapists and other practitioners registered under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and for clinical leaders who write social media policies or manage online concerns. It works from the Medical Council's statements on internet and electronic communication and on advertising, the Nursing Council's Guidelines: Social Media and Electronic Communication, the Psychologists Board and Medical Sciences Council social media guidance, the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, the Code of Rights and the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.
Online conduct now reaches the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, which has made clear that practitioners are entitled to a private life online but that their professional obligations follow them whenever they comment on matters touching their practice. In a small country, where a 'de-identified' story can be recognised by a whole town in an afternoon, the margin for error is narrow. The course gives practical rules, realistic New Zealand cases and a personal online plan, and shows how to respond, reflect and remediate if an online concern is raised about you.
10 sections · 28 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Often, especially in New Zealand's small communities. The course shows how details, images and timing reveal identity and applies rules 5 and 11 of the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 to online sharing, closed groups and team messaging apps, and what to check before you post.
Sometimes, for a clear clinical or safety reason, but usually not out of curiosity. The course gives a decision approach for looking people up, and for handling direct messages, personal phone numbers and community pages without blurring professional boundaries. It also covers keeping personal and professional accounts separate.
The course applies the Medical Council's advertising statement, other authorities' advertising standards, the Fair Trading Act 1986 and advertising codes to testimonials, before-and-after images, endorsements, sponsorship and influencer content, several of which authorities restrict. You learn what to check before any marketing goes live.
Take it down if appropriate, keep a record, tell your employer or indemnity provider, avoid arguing online and consider the privacy impact. The course explains how online concerns reach employers, HDC, authorities and the Tribunal, and options under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 if you are the target.
Yes, using AI tools for public content and patient communication in line with Medical Council guidance and privacy law. NZ$139 covers 3 hours (estimated), a 20-question test, your certificate and a personal social media reflection.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
Sexual and non-sexual boundaries, gifts, dual relationships in small communities and social media, with the zone of helpfulness and culturally safe practice.
The Privacy Act 2020 and HIPC 2020 rule by rule, including new rule 3A, serious-threat disclosures, digital confidentiality and responding to privacy breaches.
What regulators expect: scope and APCs, teamwork and leadership, conduct outside work and online, health notifications and raising concerns about colleagues.
