Cost & access
What is free forever, and what costs extra?
The core browser setup and self-customization are free forever: the SOUL Quiz, Starter Kit, prompts, templates, safety practices, and your ability to edit and program your own configuration. Optional paid choices are separate: a tailor-fit setup package from a no-PHI profile is $10 one time; access to additional resources we develop is $29.90 per year; and advanced courses include both free and paid options. Free and paid advanced courses will be available during the September 15–17, 2026 virtual summit, with course-specific prices shown before enrollment. No card is required for the free core and nothing auto-enrolls.
What ends with the founding year?
Founding-year recognition ends December 31, 2026. It marks the period when early nurses can help shape the system; it is not a deadline after which setup becomes paid. Your free core setup and self-directed customization continue permanently. Optional paid resources, tailored help, and paid courses remain separate choices.
Do I need to be technical to start?
No. The setup is guided one step at a time. If you'd rather not install anything yet, begin in the browser AI you already use. Hermes can use files, commands, and other tools when configured, so review every permission and command, keep approvals on, and stop when anything is unclear. Many setup mistakes are recoverable, but the system is not consequence-free.
Can I start on my phone? What needs a computer?
Yes. The SOUL Quiz and browser-first Nurse AI OS path work on a phone, tablet, Chromebook, Mac, or Windows computer with ChatGPT or Claude. A supported Mac or Windows desktop or laptop is required only if you later choose the optional Hermes local-runtime path. As a rough guide, a computer from the last five years with 8 GB of memory or more is usually suitable; check the
official Hermes documentation for current requirements. Local files do not make cloud-model processing local: unless you deliberately use a local model, prompts and selected context may still be processed by your configured provider.
I'm exhausted after shifts. How much time does this take?
The first SOUL Quiz takes about 2 minutes. If you choose the optional 30-day roadmap, plan about 20 minutes on the days you use it; you can skip days without falling behind. Start with one useful result for this week.
Safety & professional boundaries
Will this ever ask for patient information?
Patient information is not permitted in this public, personal workspace. The materials are designed to prompt refusal and redirection, but no rule can guarantee that every AI host blocks every entry. Do not enter names, charts, screenshots, room or record numbers, or identifiable stories. If PHI is entered, stop and follow your organization’s privacy-incident process.
Privacy boundary →
Could using AI put my license at risk?
The program is built around the opposite: everything here is no-PHI, non-clinical, and advisory. AI supports your learning, organization, and admin — never assessments, clinical decisions, or patient-specific questions. Your judgment and accountability stay with you, and every workflow includes a human-review gate. When something is a gray area, the rule is simple: leave it out and ask a human.
Is this a clinical tool or medical device?
No. Nurse AI OS is an education and personal-productivity program. It is not clinical decision support, not certified, not a deployment-ready clinical system, and it never claims to be. Anything institutional or clinical requires formal governance, security review, and organizational approval — which we say plainly, everywhere it applies.
My hospital hasn't approved any AI tools. Can I still do this?
Yes — because everything starts in your personal life and learning: your study plans, your career, your time, your projects. Nothing touches employer systems, EHRs, or workplace data. If you later want AI in your actual workplace, that's a governance conversation with your organization — and the leader pathway teaches you exactly how to have it.
What the words mean
What is Nurse AI OS?
Nurse AI OS is the governed professional environment in which nursing applications, agents, models, knowledge, memory, tools, and workflows operate. The available public Community experience includes browser-first guided workflows, governance files, prompts, local downloads, boundaries, and routines. It is not an underlying model, EHR, autonomous clinician, or finished institutional runtime.
See what is available, capability-gated, and formal-gate →
What is a SOUL file?
Your values-and-boundaries file: how you want AI to support you across personal, professional, and community life. The SOUL Quiz drafts it for you in about 2 minutes. It never contains patient details.
What is Hermes, and do I need it?
Hermes Agent is a separate, free, open-source runtime from Nous Research. Nurse AI OS can use it for local folders, reusable skills, memory, and tools you approve, but Hermes is optional and not required to begin. If Hermes uses a cloud model provider, selected prompts and context may be processed by that provider even when files and Hermes state remain local.
Optional Hermes guide →
Hermes has so many settings. Do I need to understand them all?
You do not need to understand Hermes settings to start because the browser-first path does not use Hermes. If you later choose Hermes, review the model provider, data retention, permissions, memory, and tool access for your own situation. Defaults are not a universal safety guarantee.
Hermes configuration handbook →
What if something breaks — or a file gets deleted?
Stop before retrying actions and preserve the current files, messages, and logs. Problems range from routine configuration errors to access or data incidents; do not upload sensitive screenshots or logs to a chatbot. Use the troubleshooting guide, and escalate to a qualified human or your organization’s privacy/security process if data exposure, unauthorized access, or clinical or institutional impact may be involved.
When Things Go Wrong →
What do NAIO, EDENA, and "human gate" mean?
NAIO is the nurse-led stewardship layer behind the program. EDENA is the governance framework: AI augments the nurse's judgment, never replaces it. A human gate is a checkpoint where a person must review and approve before AI output is used, sent, or acted on. You do not need to memorize the terms; the materials explain where each boundary applies, and you remain responsible for review.
What is the Lamp Huddle?
A recurring 45-minute live community call for nurses building governed AI practices. We share practical lessons, work through issues together, and celebrate capability gained without handing over judgment. Sessions may be recorded so members can catch up; the sharing round can go off-record on request.
Join the list for the next confirmed date and invitation.
What to expect →
Licensing, ownership & trademark
Is Nurse AI OS open source?
The answer is
artifact-specific. Software covered by this public repository remains under Apache License 2.0, and its documentation, playbooks, and curricula remain under CC BY 4.0. Third-party projects retain their own terms. Separately maintained artifacts require inspection of their attached terms; this page does not narrow an existing grant. The durable open-core boundary is pending a formal owner decision. See the
licensing and trademark boundary.
Who owns Nurse AI OS?
Robert Domondon personally holds copyright in the project's original components and owns the Nurse AI OS trademark. The governance documents provide a written path for later assignment to designated successor entities. That assignment would change the holder, not the published licenses, contributor protections, criticism rights, or permitted factual uses.
Is Nurse AI OS a registered trademark?
An application to register the Nurse AI OS mark is pending. The project uses ™ and makes no claim that federal registration has been granted. It does not use the registered-trademark symbol.
Can I refer to, critique, or fork the project?
Yes. Truthful factual references, reviews, comparisons, research, journalism, parody, and good-faith criticism are permitted. You may fork the open-source code under its license and say it is derived from or compatible with Nurse AI OS, but the fork must use its own name and may not imply official status, endorsement, certification, or partnership. Read the complete
licensing and trademark policy.
Community & next steps
What happens in the monthly sessions?
A short teaching or demo, open questions, troubleshooting, and small wins from other nurses. It's the evaluation loop of your care plan — steady, practical, and human. Monthly at first; we'll add sessions as the community grows.
How do I join the community and newsletter?
Sign up once —
join here — and you're in: the newsletter, every monthly Lamp Huddle invitation, and founding-member status in our community home, which opens very soon. Already a member?
Open the community →
Can I request a feature or tell you what's confusing?
Please do — this is a founding year, and what nurses ask for gets built.
Request a feature → or
give feedback →. Every message is read by a human.
I'm a manager — what's coming for me?
Two governed programs are in the works: a
Room & Nurse Assignment program (draft assignments you review and approve — the human gate stays yours) and a
Vacation Request program (fair, transparent request tracking with human approval). Both no-PHI, both advisory.
Ask for early access →
What's the Founding Steward Cohort?
A small, 6-week guided build for nurses who want structure and company: SOUL profile, folder system, no-PHI workflows, human-gate checklists, and a 30-day sustainment plan. Applications are read by a human, usually within a few days. Apply via
email.
I'm interested in the advanced tracks. When should I start them?
After your first 30 days. The side-gig, builder, and sovereign-systems lanes assume the foundation is solid — the order matters. They're invitations, not requirements, and they keep the same boundary: no PHI, no clinical claims, humans judge.
Ready? Take the 2-Minute SOUL Quiz →