The universities have the responsibility to train nurses able to recognize the needs of the health system, which must respond to ethical conduct and humane care. Objective: To determine the knowledge on ethical principles and their application to the care process by nursing students at the University of Cauca. Methodology: Quantitative approach study, descriptive cross-sectional type. The sample 155 students enrolled in the nursing program between III and X semester I period 2015. This adapts and validates a questionnaire evaluation questions to determine knowledge and a problematic question to measure the application of the principles. Results: the principles of loyalty, charity and loyalty were the best known and the principles of non-maleficence, justice and truth were the least knowledge. Those who had less knowledge were students of lower semesters, which in turn were those who had received fewer courses and more knowledge were students of higher semesters, with greater participation in ethics courses. The principles were applied acceptably despite not having solid knowledge about them. Conclusion: The research allows us to conclude that the teaching of ethics in nursing requires more attention and should be transversal in career development because it creates a solid foundation in ethical principles that will allow the nurse (a) address the ethical dilemmas present throughout his professional life and provide a humanized care