by
Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor | December 03, 2010
It seems Americans just like nurses.
For the 11th year, nurses were judged the most honest and ethical profession, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. Eight out of 10 Americans judged nurses to have "high" or "very high" ethical standards, Gallup said.
Nurses squeaked ahead of military officers and pharmacists in the esteem of the country. About seven out of 10 Americans judged those professions to have high ethical standards. Doctors also did well, with 66 percent of respondents deeming them honest.
Faring less well were members of Congress - only about one out of 10 Americans judge them to be very ethical or honest. But the least trusted professionals were lobbyists and car salesmen, with only 7 percent finding them especially trustworthy.
Since nurses were added to the poll in 1999, they've topped the list every year except 2001, when they were surpassed by firemen.
"It's extremely gratifying to know that the public continues to hold the profession in such high esteem," Karen J. Daley, a registered nurse and president of the American Nurses Association, said in prepared remarks.
The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,037 adults. The interviews were carried out between Nov. 19-21. The sampling error is 4 percentage points.
