Nurses are regarded by most everyone as caring, compassionate professionals who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality medical care … day-in, and day-out. For these reasons – and many more—the nursing profession is viewed as one of the most admired jobs in the country.
To tell the complete story, there are additional traits that must be added to the description – “honest and ethical.”
For the 16th straight year, Americans have ranked nurses as the most honest and ethical of the 22 occupations surveyed in a recent Gallup Poll. In that poll, 82% of respondents rated nurses’ ethics as “very high” or “high.” Contrast that with the “low” to “very low” honesty and ethical ratings given to Congressional members (60%), lobbyists (58%) and car salespeople (39%).
At 82%, the ranking for nurses was 11-points higher than that of military officers (71%). Other “trusted” professions such as grade school teachers, doctors, police officers, judges and clergy landed even further behind nursing. Gallup reports that nurses have topped this ranking every year but one since the first survey in 1999. Not surprisingly right after the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001, firefighters were added to the list and they topped all professions that year with 90% of American’s rating their standards of honesty and ethical behavior as “very high/high.” This pushed nurses out of the top spot for just that one year.
Three professions with the highest ratings for honesty and ethical practices are in healthcare. In addition to nurses, doctors and pharmacists are on the list – a trend that has held true in recent years.
Results of the poll were based on telephone interviews of 1,049 adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia between Dec. 4-11, 2017. The poll has a confidence level of 95%.
Nursing isn’t a “job” – it’s a “calling.” There’s no doubt it takes a special kind of person to be a nurse. But, to everyone who is one of those special people, Denver College of Nursing offers quality nursing education programs in a variety of degree fields. From on-campus programs, DCN offer both Associate Degrees (AND) and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing BSN) programs. For working RNs looking to advance their careers, DCN offers two fully online programs: to RN-BSN and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). Denver College of Nursing delivers the education to help you excel in the nursing profession.
To learn more about Denver College of Nursing options, visit our homepage.