Who ya gonna trust? Try medical professionals.
They enjoy the top ranking when it comes to who the American public says it can trust, according to a new Gallup poll.
Nurses topped the list, as they have for years, followed by doctors and pharmacists. Gallup released the results from its annual Honesty and Ethics poll today, and nurses were ranked No. 1 by Americans for the 17th consecutive year.
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Of course, the American Nurses Association (ANA), which represents the country’s 4 million registered nurses, began blowing their own horn over the results—and who could fault them?
“Every day and across every healthcare setting, we are on the front lines providing care to millions of people. Nurses’ contributions to healthcare delivery, public health challenges, natural disaster relief efforts, research, education and much more, are unmatched and invaluable,” said ANA president Pamela F. Cipriano, R.N., in an email. “These results are a testament to nurses’ impact on our nation.”
According to the poll, more than 4 in 5 Americans (84%) rated nurses’ honesty and ethical standards as “very high” or “high.” The next closest profession, medical doctors, was rated 17 percentage points behind nursing. Some 67% of poll respondents ranked medical doctors highly while 66% said they most trusted their pharmacists.
High school teachers (60%) and police officers (54%) were next on the list.
Who was at the bottom of the list? Members of Congress who only 8% of Americans said have high standards of honesty and ethics. Nearly 58% of Americans say they have "low" or "very low" ethical standards. Telemarketers and car salespeople also ranked near the bottom.
Interestingly, journalists’ ethics rating hit a high of 33%, up 10 points since 2016.