Nursing remains the most trusted profession in the United States, with 85% of people rating nurses as having very high or high levels of honesty and ethics.
That’s according to a poll just released by Gallup, who asked U.S. adults to assess the honesty and ethics of a list of professions in December 2019.
This is the 18th year in a row that nursing took the top spot, ahead of the next highest trusted profession by a wide margin.
“Patients rely on nurses at some of their most vulnerable times and with their most intimate needs. They trust us to protect, promote and restore health and well-being, to prevent illness and injury, and to alleviate suffering,” said Linda D. Norman, DSN, RN, FAAN, dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and the Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing. “Having our patients’ trust is important to nurses. Being recognized as the most trusted profession, therefore, is a very great honor.”
As a school of nursing, VUSN also has a substantial responsibility to teach and model ethical principles and decision-making to its students, Norman said. “Ethical principles and practices are woven into our didactic and clinical curriculum at all levels in the MSN, DNP and PhD programs,” she said.