Ethics & Professionalism Courses for Health Professionals in the United States

Most "ethics courses" sold to US licensees try to cover everything in one sitting: principles, the code, consent, boundaries, records and discipline. The result is broad but shallow, and it rarely matches the problems a nurse, a pharmacist or a dentist actually faces on a normal shift. We split the subject in two, and we write both halves for one profession at a time.

The ethics course: how you decide

The ethics course is about values and reasoning. It takes the code your profession uses (the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, the APhA Code of Ethics for Pharmacists, the ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct, or the AAPA Guidelines for Ethical Conduct) and applies it to dilemmas where reasonable clinicians might disagree: refusals, end-of-life requests, conscience, truthfulness, conflicts of interest, money, and what to do when a colleague is unsafe. You practice a structured way of reaching and explaining a decision.

The professionalism course: how you are held to account

The professionalism course is about conduct and standards. It explains what your practice act and board rules require in daily work: scope of practice, supervision and delegation, prescribing and dispensing standards, records, license integrity, reporting duties and what happens when a board questions your practice. Ethics asks "what is the right thing to do here?" Professionalism asks "what standard will I be measured against, and can I show I met it?"

Taking both gives you the reasoning and the rulebook. Taking one is still useful: the ethics course suits licensees who want sharper judgment on hard cases, and the professionalism course suits those who want a clear map of the standards they are expected to meet.

Each profession page explains which code and standards apply, how the two core courses map to them, how they fit around your renewal requirements, and which supporting courses are most relevant. Pick yours:

• Physicians (MD and DO): Medical Ethics for Physicians plus Professional Standards for Physicians, built on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics and the standards state medical boards apply.
• Nurses (RN, LPN/LVN, APRN): Ethics for Nurses, worked through the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses (2025), plus Professional Standards for Nurses under the Nurse Practice Act.
• Pharmacists: Pharmacy Ethics built on the eight principles of the APhA Code of Ethics, plus Professional Standards for Pharmacists covering supervision, the pharmacist-in-charge and quality assurance.
• Dentists and dental hygienists: Dental Ethics built on the five ADA principles, plus Professional Standards for Dental Professionals covering infection control, sedation, radiation and prescribing.
• Physician assistants (PAs): A PA ethics course built on the AAPA Guidelines for Ethical Conduct, plus a PA professionalism course on collaboration, scope, certification and the license.
• Psychologists: Ethics and professionalism courses for licensed psychologists, focused on the issues psychology boards see most.
• Physical therapists: Ethics and professionalism courses written for PTs and the standards state physical therapy boards enforce.
• Optometrists: Ethics and professionalism courses for optometrists, from prescribing and records to advertising and patient relationships.
• Chiropractors: Ethics and professionalism courses for chiropractors, including consent, boundaries, billing and scope.
• Social workers: Ethics and professionalism courses for licensed social workers, covering dual relationships, confidentiality and practice standards.

If your profession is not listed, the cross-profession courses below are written for any licensed health professional, and the full course catalog lets you filter by topic.

These four courses cover the duties that most often turn an ordinary clinical encounter into a complaint. Informed consent is an ethical duty under every professional code and a patient right under federal hospital Conditions of Participation (42 CFR 482.13). Privacy is governed by the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules and, for substance use disorder records, 42 CFR Part 2, whose updated rule required compliance by February 16, 2026. Federal hospital rules require record entries to be "legible, complete, dated, timed, and authenticated", and poor record keeping is one of the grounds for discipline listed by the Federation of State Medical Boards. Disclosure of adverse events is addressed by AMA Opinion 8.6, the AHRQ CANDOR toolkit and statutes such as Pennsylvania's MCARE Act.

Licensing and discipline in the United States belong to the states. Each profession has a practice act (the Medical Practice Act, Nurse Practice Act, Pharmacy Practice Act, Dental Practice Act and so on) and a state board that enforces it. National bodies such as the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and the American Association of Dental Boards (AADB) support the boards, publish model policy and run national systems, but they do not license anyone. The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) certifies PAs, and most states rely on that certification.

Professional codes from associations such as the AMA, ANA, APhA, ADA and AAPA are ethical guidance rather than law. They bind members of the association, but boards and courts often refer to them when deciding what a reasonable professional should have done. That is why our ethics courses are built on the codes and our professionalism courses on the practice acts, board rules and federal requirements.

Renewal requirements are set state by state

Continuing education rules differ by state, profession and cycle. Some states require ethics specifically: Texas physicians need at least 2 formal hours of medical ethics and/or professional responsibility in each 24-month cycle, Texas nurses must complete targeted CE in Nursing Jurisprudence and Ethics, California pharmacists must complete the Board-provided ethics webinar, and New York dentists complete a one-time 3-hour course in dental jurisprudence and ethics. Those requirements are tied to accredited or board-provided courses, and our courses do not meet them. Our guide to ethics hours for license renewal explains the state rules in more detail.

Every course follows the same format, so you know exactly what you are signing up for before you enroll:

• Immediate access after checkout, on desktop, tablet or phone.
• 2 to 3 hours of reading and case work, split into short sections with knowledge checks so you can stop and restart between shifts.
• A 20-question final assessment with an 80% pass mark (16 of 20); you can review the material and retake it.
• A certificate of completion showing the course title, study time and completion date.
• A structured reflective account that prompts you to describe what you learned and what you will do differently, without recording identifiable patient details.

US courses use US terminology and US sources throughout: state practice acts and board rules, federal regulations, and the codes of the major professional associations, checked against official sources in October 2026.

• Licensees who want a deeper, profession-specific grounding in ethics and standards than a generic renewal module offers.
• Clinicians moving into leadership, supervision, precepting or practice ownership, where they set standards for others.
• Licensees moving to a new state or practicing across state lines who want a clear picture of how board expectations work.
• Professionals returning to practice after a break.
• Licensees who have received a complaint, a letter of concern or an employer warning and want to learn, reflect and document that learning, with advice from their attorney or insurer.