Profession-specific standards
The ANA Code of Ethics (2025), nurse practice acts and the ethical decisions nurses face every shift
U.S. nurses: registered nurses (RN), licensed practical and vocational nurses (LPN/LVN) and advanced practice registered nurses (NP, CNM, CRNA, CNS), plus nurse leaders, educators and students preparing for practice.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a board inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
This course is a nursing-specific ethics program for RNs, LPN/LVNs and APRNs in the United States. It works through the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses (2025) provision by provision and applies it to the decisions nurses actually make: moral agency and accountability for orders and delegation, moral courage in questioning unsafe instructions, advocating for patients, responding honestly to errors, acting on impaired practice and drug diversion, respecting refusals, end-of-life care and conscientious objection, patient abandonment, staffing, moral distress, boundaries, social media, AI and documentation integrity.
It is written for nurses in every setting: hospital, long-term care, home health, hospice, ambulatory care, schools and advanced practice. It suits nurses who want to strengthen their ethical reasoning, prepare for a state ethics or jurisprudence requirement, support colleagues as charge nurses, preceptors or leaders, or reflect constructively after a concern has been raised about their practice.
In the United States, ethical failures in nursing reach boards of nursing as unprofessional conduct under each state's Nurse Practice Act and rules: falsified records, diversion, boundary violations, abandonment and practice beyond scope. Board actions can be public, are reportable to the National Practitioner Data Bank and can affect multistate practice. Sound ethical judgment, honest documentation and the confidence to speak up protect both patients and your license.
11 sections · 25 lessons · 3 hours · 20-question final assessment
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
Certificate of completion. Not CE or CME credit unless accepted by your board.
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 learning 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.
Yes. It works through all 10 provisions of the 2025 ANA Code and shows how to pick the sub-provision that fits a real situation. It also explains how the Code differs from the binding duties in your state Nurse Practice Act, board rules, board position statements and employer policy.
Not necessarily. Boards of nursing usually treat abandonment as leaving patients after accepting an assignment without a safe handoff, while declining an assignment before accepting it is often an employment matter. The course explains the distinction, how to raise staffing concerns and how to leave an assignment safely if you must.
Act on it through the proper channels rather than ignoring it or confronting the colleague alone. The course explains the Code's expectations, typical employer and board reporting duties, alternative-to-discipline programs and how to document what you observed factually. It also covers responding honestly to your own medication or care errors.
It is not designed to, and makes no claim of board approval or contact hours. States such as Texas set specific jurisprudence and ethics requirements and accept particular providers. The course is useful for strengthening ethical reasoning, supporting colleagues as a charge nurse or preceptor, or reflecting after a concern.
$89 for three self-paced hours written for RNs, LPN/LVNs and APRNs. Nursing scenarios are checked along the way and the 20-question final requires 80%; once through, you get a certificate and a nursing ethics reflection. Cases cover staffing pressure, delegation, end-of-life care and speaking up for patients.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: state practice acts and board rules, federal law and national professional codes of ethics. 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.
How boards of nursing apply practice standards: scope decisions, delegation and assignment, unsafe assignments, Safe Harbor, NLC practice and license integrity.
Staying inside your license: practice acts, title protection, aiding unlicensed practice, delegation, standing orders, med spas and IV therapy risks.
What happens after a state board letter arrives: investigation, your written response, settlement conferences, consent orders, hearings and NPDB reporting.
