The application of ethical principles within the teaching profession and nursing practice forms the core of the nurse educator's professional ethics. However, research focusing on the professional ethics of nurse educators is scarce.

To describe ethical principles and issues relating to the work of nurse educators from the perspectives of both nurse educators themselves and nursing students.

A descriptive study using cross-sectional data and content analysis.

Nursing education program involving students from nine polytechnics in Finland.

Nursing students (n = 202) and nurse educators (n = 342).

Data were derived from an online survey, with two open-ended questions: Nursing students and nurse educators were asked to name the three main ethical principles that guide the work of nurse educators and also to describe ethical issues involved in the work.

Students most often named professionalism, justice, and equality as the main ethical principles for a nurse educator. Nurse educators considered justice, equality, and honesty as the main ethical principles. The content analysis showed that professionalism and the relationship between educator and student were the key categories for ethical issues as perceived by nursing students. Nursing students most often identified inequality between the nurse educator and nursing student as the ethical issue faced by the nurse educator.

Nursing students and nurse educators differed somewhat both in their views of the ethical principles guiding an educator's work and in the ethical issues arising in the work.