Ley 911 de 2004: nursing ethics and the disciplinary regime

What it is

Law 911 of 2004 sets the professional ethical responsibility for practising nursing in Colombia and the matching disciplinary regime. It defines the act of care, the ethical principles that guide it, and the professional's duties toward the people in their care, colleagues, institutions, research, teaching and records. Departmental nursing ethics tribunals judge at first instance and the National Tribunal at second instance. Sanctions range from a private verbal warning to suspension from practice for up to three years.

Key articles

• Art. 3: the act of care is the essence of the profession; it involves a judgment and a participatory process to prioritise needs and decide the care plan.
• Art. 5, paragraph: if conditions for practice are lacking (staff, equipment, safety), the professional reports it in writing and demands change.
• Art. 8: may delegate activities to the nursing auxiliary if this does not put the person at risk and they can be supervised.
• Art. 9: duty to respect life, dignity and integrity; its paragraph recognises conscientious objection.
• Art. 13: to give medications, requires a written, legible, correct and up-to-date medical prescription.
• Art. 15: gives patients and families no prognoses about diagnoses or treatments prescribed by other professionals.
• Art. 22: if a prescription could cause harm, contacts the prescriber; if it stands, acts on their own judgment or by conscientious objection, always in writing.
• Art. 70: disciplinary action lapses after five years; the sanction, after three.

What it covers

• Title I: principles, values and the act of care.
• Title II: scope and conditions for practice, consent and delegation.
• Title III: responsibilities toward people in care, colleagues, institutions, research, teaching and records.
• Title IV: nursing ethics tribunals.
• Title V: disciplinary process and sanctions.

In nursing practice

• Before a care intervention, its benefit and possible effects are explained and acceptance or refusal is respected (art. 6).
• The clinical record is confidential: only the patient, the team involved and those the patient or the law authorise may see it (art. 36).
• A doubtful medical order is clarified with the prescriber and recorded in writing (art. 22).
• In teaching, the professional takes steps to prevent errors students might make through lack of skill (art. 31).

Status and official text

• Official text checked on 2026-11-05 on secretariasenado.gov.co.
• In force. The Constitutional Court, in Ruling C-274 of 2016, struck down the part of the paragraph of art. 9 that limited conscientious objection to certain cases.
• Under that ruling, objection is made personally and in writing, with reasons, naming who will replace the objector, while the service is still guaranteed.
• Its art. 74 repealed numeral 1 of art. 11 of Law 266 of 1996.

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Elsewhere in DurgiPedia

• Informed consent: elements and how to obtain it
• Professional secrecy and confidentiality

Connections

← All of nursing

Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.

Sources: Ley 911 de 2004, responsabilidad deontológica para el ejercicio de la enfermería (arts. 1 a 38) (Secretaría General del Senado de la República, 2004); Ley 911 de 2004 (arts. 39 a 74: tribunales, proceso y sanciones) (Secretaría General del Senado de la República, 2004); Sentencia C-274 de 2016 (objeción de conciencia en la Ley 911 de 2004) (Corte Constitucional de Colombia, 2016).

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Representative model, for educational purposes only.