| Course | NSG 126 Transition to Professional Nursing |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | APA citation and reference set |
| Length | About 810 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BSN |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NSG 126 Unit 5
Eight Sources a Nursing Student Actually Cites, Each With Its In-Text and Reference-List Forms in APA 7, and the Awkward Ones Given the Most Room
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NSG 126: Transition to Professional Nursing
Instructor Name
February 11, 2026
Eight Sources a Nursing Student Actually Cites, Each With Its In-Text and Reference-List Forms in APA 7, and the Awkward Ones Given the Most Room
How the Set Is Laid Out
Each entry has three parts: a line describing what kind of source it is, the in-text forms (parenthetical and narrative), and the reference-list form. The style is APA 7, as the course requires. All eight sources were used in earlier work in this program and are real and checkable.
Entry 1: A Professional Code Published by an Organization
What it is: the Code of Ethics for Nurses, a book-length document whose author and publisher are the same organization.
In text, first use: (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2015). Later: (ANA, 2015). Narrative: the American Nurses Association (2015) holds that...
Reference list: the group name stands where a person's surname would, followed by the year and the italicized title; because the author and publisher are the same organization, no publisher is added after the title (the first entry in the list below).
Note: the abbreviation is introduced once, at first use, and used afterward. Provisions are cited by number in the sentence, not in the parentheses.
Entry 2: A Standards Document With an Edition Number
What it is: the scope and standards of practice, again authored and published by one organization.
In text: (American Nurses Association, 2021). If the abbreviation was introduced in Entry 1, (ANA, 2021) is used.
Reference list: same pattern as Entry 1, with the edition in parentheses, in plain type, directly after the italic title and before the final period.
Note: the edition goes in parentheses after the title, in plain text, not italic. Two works by the same group author in different years are ordered by year.
Entry 3: A State Administrative Rule
What it is: chapter N 6 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, the standards of practice for registered and practical nurses, read on the Legislature's website.
In text: (Wisconsin Board of Nursing, 2025).
Reference list: the board as author, the year of the version read, the chapter's official title in italics, the code citation in parentheses after the title, the Legislature as the site name, and the web address.
Note: APA also allows legal materials to be cited in legal citation style; the course accepts the author-date form above because it keeps every entry in the list consistent. The year is the year of the version read, which matters because this chapter was revised in 2025.
Entry 4: A State Statute
What it is: chapter 441 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the nurse practice act.
In text: (Wisconsin Legislature, 2024).
Reference list: the Legislature as author, the chapter title in italics, the statute citation in parentheses, and the web address.
Entry 5: A Guideline With Two Organizations as Authors, Published in a Journal
What it is: the national delegation guidelines, issued jointly and published as a journal article with a DOI.
In text: (National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN] & American Nurses Association, 2016).
Reference list: both organizations in the author position, joined by an ampersand, then the article title in sentence case, the journal and volume in italics, the issue in parentheses, the page range, and the DOI written as a web address.
Entry 6: A Journal Article With More Than 20 Authors
What it is: a postoperative pain guideline published in a journal, with 21 or more authors.
In text: (Chou et al., 2016).
Reference list: the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis, then the final author, with no ampersand before that last name; the long guideline title is given in full.
Entry 7: A Government Web Page With No Date
What it is: a patient-education page on MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, with a review date but no publication date shown as such.
In text: (MedlinePlus, n.d.); narrative, MedlinePlus (n.d.) advises...
Reference list: the site name as author, n.d. in place of the year, the page title in italics, the parent organization, and a retrieval date before the address.
Note: a retrieval date is included because the page is designed to change over time.
Entry 8: A Standard Journal Article
What it is: a single-study journal article with three authors and a DOI, for comparison with the awkward entries above.
In text: (Morse et al., 1989).
Reference list: three authors separated by commas with an ampersand before the last, then the ordinary article pattern of Entry 5.
Patterns Across the Set
Group authors are written out in full in the list and abbreviated in the text only after being introduced. The year always reflects the version actually read. Titles of books, reports, and web pages are italic; titles of articles are not, but the journal name and volume are. Every in-text citation has a matching entry, and every entry is cited somewhere in the work.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements.
American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.).
Chou, R., Gordon, D. B., de Leon-Casasola, O. A., Rosenberg, J. M., Bickler, S., Brennan, T., Carter, T., Cassidy, C. L., Chittenden, E. H., Degenhardt, E., Griffith, S., Manworren, R., McCarberg, B., Montgomery, R., Murphy, J., Perkal, M. F., Suresh, S., Sluka, K., Strassels, S., ... Wu, C. L. (2016). Management of postoperative pain: A clinical practice guideline from the American Pain Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Committee on Regional Anesthesia, Executive Committee, and Administrative Council. The Journal of Pain, 17(2), 131-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2015.12.008
MedlinePlus. (n.d.). Using an incentive spirometer. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved January 26, 2026, from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000451.htm
Morse, J. M., Morse, R. M., & Tylko, S. J. (1989). Development of a scale to identify the fall-prone patient. Canadian Journal on Aging, 8(4), 366-377. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980800008576
National Council of State Boards of Nursing & American Nurses Association. (2016). National guidelines for nursing delegation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 7(1), 5-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2155-8256(16)31035-3
Wisconsin Board of Nursing. (2025). Standards of practice for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses (Wis. Admin. Code ch. N 6). Wisconsin Legislature. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/n/6
Wisconsin Legislature. (2024). Board of Nursing (Wis. Stat. ch. 441). https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/441
What the NSG 126 Unit 5 instructions ask for
Unit 5 asks you to prepare correct APA 7 citations for a set of sources you are likely to use. Expect to describe each source type, give the in-text forms, parenthetical and narrative, and give the reference-list entry, then note patterns. Many versions ask which source types to include and how to cite laws and codes. Check whether your section supplies the sources. Professional documents with group authors, state statutes and administrative rules are common in nursing and often cited wrongly. APA 7 refers legal sources to Bluebook style within the APA framework. Articles with more than 20 authors list the first 19, an ellipsis and the last author. Web pages without dates use n.d. and a retrieval date only if the content changes.
Inside the NSG 126 Unit 5 example
The set opens with how each entry is laid out, so the reader knows what to expect. Each of eight entries describes the source in a line, then gives the parenthetical and narrative in-text forms, then the full reference. The code entry shows a group author and the publisher omitted when it is the same as the author. The statute and rule entries show legal format. The guideline entry shows two group authors. The 20-plus author entry shows the ellipsis rule. The web page entry shows n.d. The final section names patterns, such as italics for standalone works and sentence case for article titles. The set serves as a reference a student could keep beside a draft.
Where the points sit in the NSG 126 Unit 5 rubric
Herzing's rubric for a citation set usually covers accuracy of in-text forms, accuracy of reference entries, variety of source types, handling of special cases and explanation of patterns. Reference entries are checked character by character, so italics, capitalization, punctuation and DOI format all count. In-text points reward both parenthetical and narrative forms. Variety criteria look for professional, legal and journal sources. Special case points go to group authors, many authors, no date and legal citations handled correctly. Pattern explanation earns credit because it shows the rules are understood, not copied. A hanging indent in the list is expected. The APA Publication Manual's seventh edition is the authority for every entry here.
Common NSG 126 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Citation sets in Unit 5 commonly lose points through small format errors, such as title case for article titles or missing italics. Another frequent problem is citing a statute as if it were a web page. Students often abbreviate group authors in the reference list. The ellipsis rule for many authors is applied wrongly. DOIs are given as plain numbers rather than links. Retrieval dates are added where APA 7 no longer requires them. Narrative forms are missing. Edition numbers are left off standards documents. Page numbers appear for whole-book citations. Finally, explain the patterns, because graders reward a set that shows the rules behind each entry and would help a classmate format the next source correctly.
Get a NSG 126 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 5 instructions and the rubric from your NSG 126 classroom, and say which style your program uses and which source types the set has to cover. We write a custom example that groups entries by type, shows the in-text and list forms together, and gives the awkward sources the most room. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
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NSG 126 Unit 5 questions, answered
Which style manual should the set follow?
The one your program requires, named with its edition in the document. Rules change between editions, and a set citing no edition cannot be checked against anything when a formatting question comes up later. If your classroom supplies a template or a sample paper, follow it where it differs from a general guide, because that is what your work is compared against.
Which source types are worth including?
The ones you will actually use and find awkward. A journal article and a book chapter are the easy pair; the entries that earn credit are a professional standards document, a government or agency page, an organization as author, and a source with no date. Adding one of those costs a paragraph and saves marks in every later unit.
Does the set need to be about one subject?
Usually not, and it can help if it is. Where your instructions attach the set to a paper you are building, use sources you intend to cite, since the set then does double duty. Where the set stands alone, choose sources across the types rather than four articles from one search, because the variety is what the entries are marked on.
Where can I find a free NSG 126 Unit 5 sample paper?
The full NSG 126 Unit 5 APA citation set is free on this page, eight nursing sources with in-text and reference forms. A set built on your own source list can be written on request.
How do I cite the ANA Code of Ethics in APA 7?
In text, American Nurses Association (2015) or (American Nurses Association, 2015). In the list, the group author, year, italicized title and publisher, omitted when it matches the author. This sample shows that entry and seven others.