PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/State nurse practice act

How to Cite a State Nurse Practice Act in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a state nurse practice act gives the act's name as the statute states it, the state code's abbreviation, the section symbol and sections, and the year of the code you read in parentheses, with no author and no italics. The in-text citation is the act's name and the year: (Nursing Practice Act, 2025). If you read your board of nursing's webpage about the act rather than the law itself, cite the board's page as a webpage.

The format

Name of Act, State Code Abbreviation § Section (Year). URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 22, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Statutes (under Legal References), then A state statute. Type the act's name and a shortened title, the state's name, the code in the Statute Source Title box, the sections in the Statute Source Location box (with the § symbol), and the year. You can type the code's full name for many states and PERRLA prints the standard abbreviation: Florida Statutes becomes Fla. Stat., and Tennessee Code Annotated becomes Tenn. Code Ann. For states that organize their laws into subject codes, like Texas, type the abbreviation yourself: Tex. Occ. Code Ann.

Have a law.justia.com link to one section? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. For the state codes PERRLA recognizes there, including the Florida Statutes and California's Business and Professions Code, it fills in the code abbreviation, the section, the year of Justia's edition, and the link. Add the act's name and shortened title, and check that the year matches the version you read. A link from the legislature's own site, or a Justia link to the Texas codes, comes back as a webpage instead, so for those, choose Statutes and fill it in by hand as above.

Citing the board of nursing's page? Paste its URL, and PERRLA fills in the board as the group author, the page title, and the link. Check the title's capitalization before you add it: the act's name keeps its capital letters.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Name of the act

Use the name the statute gives itself, usually in its first section. States don't all use the same words, so check yours. Capitalize it like a title, and don't italicize it.

Nursing Practice Act

Texas calls its law the Nursing Practice Act. Florida's is the Nurse Practice Act. If your state's law has no name, start the reference with the code citation instead, and use that in your in-text citation.

2. State code

After a comma, give the state code's abbreviation. APA follows legal citation style here, so use the standard abbreviation, not the code's full name.

Tex. Occ. Code Ann.

Some states have one code (Fla. Stat. for the Florida Statutes). Others split their laws into subject codes. Texas puts nursing in its Occupations Code, and California puts it in the Business and Professions Code (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code).

3. Sections

Write the section symbol, a space, and the section. For a range of sections, double the symbol and put an en dash between the first and last.

§§ 301.001–301.657

Citing the whole act? Give the full range of its sections. Writing about one rule, like your state's definition of professional nursing? Cite just that section, with one §.

4. Year

Put the year of the code you read in parentheses, then a period. State legislature websites say which version you're looking at: Florida's says "The 2026 Florida Statutes," and Texas's says its statutes are current through the 2025 legislative sessions.

(2025).

Citing an older version, like the law in effect during a study you're discussing? Use that version's year.

5. URL

A link is optional for legal references, but a link to the state legislature's official copy helps your reader. Don't put a period after it.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/OC/htm/OC.301.htm

Examples

The whole act: Texas's Nursing Practice Act

Chapter 301 of the Texas Occupations Code, which names itself the Nursing Practice Act in its first section. It runs from section 301.001 through 301.657. Texas organizes its laws into subject codes, so the abbreviation names the code.

  • Parenthetical citation(Nursing Practice Act, 2025)
  • Narrative citationThe Nursing Practice Act (2025)

The whole act: Florida's Nurse Practice Act

Part I of Chapter 464 of the Florida Statutes, sections 464.001 through 464.027, in the 2026 Florida Statutes. Section 464.001 gives the name. Typed into PERRLA as "Florida Statutes," the code prints as Fla. Stat.

  • Parenthetical citation(Nurse Practice Act, 2026)
  • Narrative citationFlorida's Nurse Practice Act (2026)

One section: Florida's definitions

Section 464.003, where Florida defines terms like "practice of professional nursing." When your paper relies on one section, cite that section instead of the whole act.

  • Parenthetical citation(Nurse Practice Act, 2026)
  • Narrative citationFlorida's Nurse Practice Act (2026)

The board of nursing's page about the act

The Texas Board of Nursing's page on the act, which explains that the board treats Chapters 301, 303, and 304 of the Occupations Code as the Nursing Practice Act and links to past versions. It's a webpage, not the law, so it gets a webpage reference. The page's only date is the site's copyright line in the footer, which isn't the page's publication date, so it's n.d.

  • Parenthetical citation(Texas Board of Nursing, n.d.)
  • Narrative citationThe Texas Board of Nursing (n.d.)

In-text citations

A statute's in-text citation uses its name and year, because the name sits where an author would. Statute names aren't italicized.

  • Parenthetical: (Nursing Practice Act, 2025)
  • Narrative: the Nursing Practice Act (2025) defines…
  • Naming the state: many states use the same name, so say whose act it is in your sentence: Florida's Nurse Practice Act (2026) allows…
  • No name in the statute: the code citation takes the name's place, in the reference and in the citation, followed by the year
  • The board's webpage: (Texas Board of Nursing, n.d.)

Pointing to one section? Name it in your sentence, as in "Section 464.003 of Florida's Nurse Practice Act defines…," and cite the act. If that section is the only part you use, make the reference that section, like the third example above.

Common mistakes

  • Texas Board of Nursing. (2025). Nursing practice act.Nursing Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001–301.657 (2025).The legislature passes the act, and the board enforces it. A statute takes legal form: the act's name, the code, and the sections, with no author and no italics. Save the board as an author for the board's own pages and publications.
  • Nursing Practice Act, Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 301 (2025).Nursing Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001–301.657 (2025).APA uses legal citation form for laws, which means the code's standard abbreviation and the section symbol with the sections.
  • Nurse Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001–301.657 (2025).Nursing Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001–301.657 (2025).Use the exact name your state's statute gives. Texas says Nursing Practice Act, and Florida says Nurse Practice Act. Check the act's first section.
  • (Nurse Practice Act, n.d.)(Nurse Practice Act, 2026)A statute always has a year: the year of the code version you read. State legislature websites print it at the top of the page.
  • Nursing Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001 - 301.657 (2025).Nursing Practice Act, Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 301.001–301.657 (2025).A range of sections takes two section symbols and an en dash with no spaces around it.

Quick checklist

  • The act's name exactly as your state's statute gives it
  • The state code's abbreviation, not its full name
  • § for one section, §§ and an en dash for a range
  • The year of the code version you read
  • In text: the act's name and year, with the state named in your sentence
  • The board of nursing's own pages cited as webpages

Questions students ask

How do I find my state's nurse practice act?

Start at your state board of nursing's website. Most link straight to the act on the state legislature's site, which is the official copy to cite. The act is usually one chapter of the state code, and its first section gives its name.

Should I cite the law or the board of nursing's page?

Cite what you read. If you're quoting or relying on the law's own words, like your state's definition of professional nursing, cite the statute. If you're using the board's explanation, FAQ, or summary, cite the board's page as a webpage, with the board as the author.

What about the board of nursing's rules?

Board rules aren't part of the act. They're regulations, published in the state's administrative code, such as Title 22 of the Texas Administrative Code for Texas nursing rules. Cite them the same way as a state statute, with the administrative code's abbreviation and section in place of the statute's.

Which year do I use for a state statute?

The year of the code version you read. Legislatures change these acts often, so the year tells your reader which version you mean. If you're writing about the act as it stood earlier, like during a study you're discussing, use that version's year.

Is the Nurse Licensure Compact part of the nurse practice act?

It depends on the state. In Texas, the board counts the compact (Chapter 304) as part of the Nursing Practice Act, but the statute's own name covers Chapter 301. If your paper is about the compact, cite the compact's chapter on its own.

Does a nurse practice act go on my references page?

Yes. Statutes get full reference entries in APA 7, alphabetized by the act's name with everything else. If you cite two states' acts with the same name and year, name the state in your sentence so your reader knows which entry you mean.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Chapter 11 (legal references), including Section 11.5 (statutes), Section 11.7 (regulations), Section 9.11 (group authors), and the APA Style website's webpage reference guidance. Example sources verified on the Texas Legislature's statutes site (Occupations Code Chapter 301, current through 2025), the Florida Legislature's site (the 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 464, Part I), and the Texas Board of Nursing's page itself.

PERRLA builds your state's nurse practice act reference in legal form and prints the standard code abbreviation for the states it recognizes.

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