The Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam is required by the Texas Board of Nursing for initial licensure as an RN, LVN, or APRN in Texas, and for nurses returning to practice after a license lapse. The exam tests your knowledge of Texas nursing law — not clinical skills — and passing it is a non-negotiable step in the Texas licensure process.
This free PDF gives you printable TX NJE practice questions covering the Texas Nursing Practice Act and Texas Administrative Code. Download it, work through it on paper, and use the answer key to identify which legal and regulatory areas need deeper review before your actual exam.
Pair it with the online TX NJE practice tests on this site for timed simulation when you're ready to test your exam pace.
Scope of practice questions are among the most common on the TX NJE. You need to know what each license level can and cannot do — and where the boundaries between them are.
RN (Registered Nurse): RNs practice professional nursing, which includes assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. RNs can perform acts that require substantial specialized judgment and skill. RNs may delegate to LVNs and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs) within the delegation rules established in TAC.
LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse): LVNs practice vocational nursing under the supervision of a physician, podiatrist, dentist, or RN. LVN scope is more limited than RN scope — LVNs generally perform defined tasks rather than autonomous assessment and nursing diagnosis. An LVN can receive delegation from an RN but the RN retains responsibility for the delegated task.
APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse): Includes NPs, CNSs, CRNAs, and CNMs. APRNs practice under their advanced credential within a defined specialty area. APRNs have prescriptive authority under Chapter 157 of the Texas Occupations Code and TAC, Title 22, Part 9. Prescriptive authority requires a prescriptive authority agreement (PAA) with a physician or delegation from a physician.
The NJE frequently presents scenarios where you must determine whether an activity falls within or outside a nurse's scope. The key analysis: does the activity require professional nursing judgment (RN), vocational nursing skills (LVN), or advanced practice judgment (APRN)?
Delegation is a heavily tested topic on the TX NJE because it's an area where legal violations frequently occur. Texas's delegation framework has specific rules that differ from other states.
An RN can delegate specific nursing tasks to LVNs or UAPs, but the RN cannot delegate the nursing process itself. Assessment, nursing diagnosis, care planning, and evaluation are non-delegable. An RN can delegate the implementation of a specific intervention — not the decision-making about whether or how to intervene.
The five rights of delegation appear on most state nursing jurisprudence exams and are worth memorizing: Right Task, Right Circumstance, Right Person, Right Direction/Communication, and Right Supervision/Evaluation. Failing any one of these means the delegation is improper, regardless of outcome.
An LVN cannot delegate to a UAP. Delegation authority runs from RN to LVN and from RN to UAP — not from LVN to UAP. This is a common source of exam questions because the clinical reality (LVNs working without an RN on the unit) doesn't change the legal rule.
In home health and long-term care settings, the delegation rules are the same, but the supervision requirements are different because the delegating RN may not be physically present. The RN must still evaluate the UAP's competency, provide written instructions, and remain accessible.
Try these questions from our free TX NJE - Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam practice tests. The correct answer and an explanation follow each question.
An applicant for initial RN licensure in Texas must pass the Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam (NJE). What is the minimum passing score for this exam?
Answer: D. 75%
Applicants for initial licensure must pass the Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam (NJE) with a score of 75% or greater. The exam consists of 50 questions.
A nurse is arrested for a Class A misdemeanor for theft, a crime involving moral turpitude. The nurse is placed on deferred adjudication. According to the Texas Nursing Practice Act, what is the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) empowered to do?
Answer: C. Deny licensure or take disciplinary action against the nurse's license.
The Texas Occupations Code Sec. 301.452(b)(3) explicitly states that a person is subject to denial of a license or to disciplinary action for a conviction for, or placement on deferred adjudication community supervision or deferred disposition for, a felony or for a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. Therefore, the BON has the authority to act based on the deferred adjudication status, without waiting for a final conviction.
Under Texas Board of Nursing Rule 217.11, Standards of Nursing Practice, a nurse has a mandatory duty to report another nurse to the Board of Nursing (BON) or a peer review committee under which of the following circumstances?
Answer: C. The nurse's conduct leads to a reasonable suspicion that their practice is impaired by substance abuse.
The Texas Nursing Practice Act and Board Rules mandate reporting when a nurse has reasonable cause to suspect that another nurse's practice is impaired by chemical dependency or substance abuse. While rudeness and tardiness are unprofessional, they do not typically meet the threshold for mandatory reporting unless they directly impact patient safety in a reportable way. Similarly, a misdemeanor unrelated to nursing may not require reporting, whereas impairment from substance abuse poses a direct threat to patient safety and is explicitly defined as conduct subject to reporting.
A registered nurse (RN) in a busy ICU is assigned a patient who requires a complex dressing change that the RN has not been trained on. The charge nurse insists the RN perform the procedure due to staffing shortages. According to the Texas Nursing Practice Act, what is the most appropriate initial action for the RN to take?
Answer: C. Invoke Safe Harbor to initiate a peer review of the assignment's safety before accepting or rejecting it.
The Texas Nursing Practice Act provides for 'Safe Harbor,' a process that protects a nurse from employer retaliation when they make a good faith request for peer review of an assignment they believe could violate their duty to a patient. Invoking Safe Harbor must be done before accepting the assignment and allows a committee of peers to determine the assignment's safety without jeopardizing the nurse's license. Attempting the procedure without competency, simply refusing without invoking protections, or improperly delegating are not the appropriate first steps.
Take the full TX NJE - Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam practice test
Chemical dependency, mental health issues, and physical conditions that impair nursing practice are addressed in Texas through the Peer Assistance Program for Nurses (PAPN), administered by Texas Nurses Association. Participation in PAPN is an alternative to traditional BON disciplinary action for nurses who self-report impairment and meet eligibility criteria.
If you encounter a peer you believe is impaired — exhibiting signs of intoxication, diverting controlled substances, making errors attributable to impairment — your reporting obligation exists whether or not you confront the nurse directly. Most employers have internal impairment reporting protocols, and those reports trigger the facility's obligation to report to the BON.
Peer review in Texas is governed by Texas Occupations Code Chapter 303. Hospital and healthcare facility peer review is designed to identify practice deficiencies and improve quality, not to discipline nurses. However, peer review findings can be referred to the BON if the finding suggests a reportable standard of care violation.
Important protection: peer review proceedings are confidential under Texas law. Statements made during peer review are not admissible in civil proceedings. This protection is designed to encourage honest self-assessment and review without fear of civil liability — but it doesn't protect against BON proceedings if the underlying conduct warrants licensure action.
The TX NJE often presents scenarios involving impaired colleague situations. The correct answer almost always involves following the facility's reporting procedure and documenting your observations objectively, not confronting the colleague alone or doing nothing because "it's not your place."