Nurses #1 Again in Honesty, Ethics; Top Gallup Poll Ranking in 15 of 16 Years

CANTON, Mass., Dec. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the 14^th year in a row, Americans say they trust nurses more than any other profession, according to an annual Gallup survey conducted Dec. 2 – Dec. 6.

Nurses are viewed as having "very high" or "high" ethical and honesty standards by 85 percent of the public, a full 17 points higher than any other profession in the Gallup poll released today.

Gallup notes that since nurses were added to the survey in 1999, they have topped the list of most trusted professions every year except in 2001, when firefighters were included on a one-time basis, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"With an 85% honesty and ethics rating – tying their high point – nurses have no serious competition atop the Gallup ranking this year," according to the polling company. "Pharmacists and medical doctors constitute the next tier, with about two-thirds of Americans viewing each highly, followed by high school teachers at 60% and police officers at 56%."

Lobbyists were at the bottom of the honest and ethics list at just 7 percent. Members of Congress tied telemarketers and car salespeople for the second lowest rating, at 8 percent.

"This expression of trust and confidence in nurses by the public is inspiring," Massachusetts Nurses Association President Donna Kelly-Williams said. "We are incredibly proud that patients and their families count on nurses when they are at their moment of greatest vulnerability and need. The public sees how hard nurses work and how seriously they take their responsibility to advocate for safe and effective care. Nurses are the most trusted voice in health care because they fight every day to protect the health of their patients and communities."

Gallup's 2015 Honesty and Ethics of Professions Ratings can be viewed in full by visiting: http://www.gallup.com/poll/187874/americans-faith-honesty-ethics-police-rebounds.aspx?g_source=Social+Issues&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses' union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association