Nurses are #1 in Honesty/Ethics again - Gallop

[Brian]

Congratulations nurses, you did it again! Nurses Rock! 13 years in a row nurses are at the top of the charts!

Nurses continue to outrank other professions in Gallup's annual Honesty and Ethics survey. This year, 85% of responses ranked nurses Very High/High on Ethics.

You can find the entire Gallop results here: Honesty/Ethics in Professions

Since 1999 Nurses have been consistently ranked high. 2012 is the highest results yet at 85%!

Nurses, we'd love to hear what you think about these results. Share your comments below!

[amoLucia]

And as we say in Brooklyn, that and $0.50 will get you on the subway!

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Somewhere in the PACNW

I used to say , "that and $0.50 will buy me a cup of cofee".

[TawnyRN]

I believe that EMT's, NA's, PCA's, Paramedics....we all fall under nurses in this category as well. We all rock!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

And yet patients don't believe a word we say until it's said to them by someone with MD after their name.

[misswoosie]

This is based on opinion, stereotypes and maybe personal experience. I think many people assume that professionals who are involved in life and death situations and deal with people when they are at their most vulnerable and helpless are more likely to be honest and act in an ethically and morally "correct" manner.

Especially with MDs many seem to have this blind faith in them. Everyone, whatever their profession, is human and can make bad decisions, mistakes and take shortcuts. Sometimes it's done knowingly and other times not.

I am concerned that nursing, due to the fact that the starting salary post associates degree is probabaly one of the highest and benefits are reasonable, is attracting people who otherwise would never have considered nursing as a career.

The colleges concentrate on getting students through NCLEX. Recently I have the chance to speak to several student and newly qualified RNs and I don't really pick up on empathy from them. They often talk about patients as if they were a machine with a malfunction, laugh about their confusion and complain that they are demanding.

My experiences as a patient over the last 10 yrs haven't been extensive, thankfully, but the ones I have had have been lacking in any empathy. Often people not even making eye contact, smiling or introducing themselves. In additon to this , the physical care has often been less than good. I'm talking about nurses and MDs.

If I hadn't been a leary patient (and boy was I made to feel like a "bad" patient after that, even though I needed emergency surgery) and demanded an ultrasound I would probably have ended up on ICU with sepsis from peritonitis.

I don't "trust" anyone in the medical professions- too much at stake. And if everyone was doing the right thing then we wouldn't have all the readmissions and potentially avoidable complications that CHS have now set up hospital engagement networks to tackle.

One of the times I least trusted the system was when i was referred for a colonoscopy and discovered I would be give a full general anesthetic. I could see no medical justification for this and felt it was unethical and bad practice. I didn't go.

I just read "slow code". It says it all.

[kcmylorn]

I think the results are fixed by the nursing power machines- ANA and state nursing associations. With everything going on in nursing, the intimidation of 'get the BSN or else no job and we don't care if you have to starve your kids to do it" in an economy that still spells disaster for most of us. The ridiculous hoops one has to go through to even get a bottom of barrel job and then to have to practically put on a broadway musical to keep it, complete with singing and high kicks. And everthing else I read on these threads, I find it very hard to believe that nursing would be rated high on eithics; especially since the nursing managment seem to be sucked into the business mode of practicing nursing. Ethics has long left Nursing. What nursing has done to their older experienced nurses- I would hardely call that ethical, or even legal not to mention the enjoyment they have recieved from the doing it. Cheating the patients out of solid nursing care in place of smiling, pillows, blankets, coffee, drinks and movie tickets, the smooth talking( kind of sounds like used car sales to me) to get the patient out the discharge door so they can "come on back" for more of that reimbursment money for our CEO's pocket and his charming family's high style life style. The failure to promote primary healthcare to save healthcare dollars, failure to support any kind of regulations that would cut healthcare cost for patients. and let's not for get Sudder's poo-poo stew- ADEIT. Sorry, not buying it.

[echoRNC711, BSN]

Yikes, After reading these posts I am left wondering , doesn't anything make nurses happy??? (I can only imagine the wrath if we were at the bottom)

Hearing we are #1 always lightens my heart. Maybe I walk around with blinkers on or rose colored glasses on but I do feel a pride both being an RN and that the public shares my sentiment that we as a nursing body are honorable and trustworthy. To me these traits are the marker of good character and are worth celebrating.

Yes, we work very hard but we also have the distinct privilege of feeling that our work matters and we make a difference. The public certainly seems to think so or am I grossly misguided in where these stats come from ?

[bbuerke]

It's great that nurses are consistently recognized as the most trusted profession, as I think we should be. However, when considering why some of the others are ranked so low, you have to consider publicity. Clergy for example, let's face it, the sex scandals of the past decade made big headlines and probably did long-lasting damage to the reputation of clergy everywhere. Nurses however, tend to keep a low profile in the media (as far as negativity goes), and when bad things do make the news, it's usually something terrible but unintentional, like those errors with heparin. Sure, you occasionally hear about a nurse acting as an "angel of death" and killing patients, but that is few and far between, and generally chalked up to being a disturbed individual. Never enough for public opinion to condemn the whole profession.

Lastly, I'm interested in the timing of the survey. Was this after the hurricane when the story of NICU nurses evacuating babies in NYC made headlines? And if it was done this week, after the whole Prince William/Princess Kate debacle, would that have changed people's answers?

[kcmylorn]

I can't see any Ethics in how nursing has sold out it's own. No job for the new grad, no job for the diploma grads, and no job for the old erexperienced nurses. And the way the nursing profession in general has gone about it, keeping a low sneaky profile. There's nothing Ethical about that.

[kcmylorn]

Here is a requirement for a Case manager RN in a Local LTC- "Must have patience, tact, a cheerful disposition and enthusiasm, as well as the willingness to handle difficult residents."

Forget Ethics. Hello Mary Poppins!!!!

I do think this a a line direcly taken from Disney's movie- when the little girl tells her father what they are looking for in a Nanny and the letter goes up the chimney and along swoops down Juli Andrews!!! I have the video!!!!

[Guest343211]

Yikes, After reading these posts I am left wondering , doesn't anything make nurses happy??? (I can only imagine the wrath if we were at the bottom)

Hearing we are #1 always lightens my heart. Maybe I walk around with blinkers on or rose colored glasses on but I do feel a pride both being an RN and that the public shares my sentiment that we as a nursing body are honorable and trustworthy. To me these traits are the marker of good character and are worth celebrating.

Yes, we work very hard but we also have the distinct privilege of feeling that our work matters and we make a difference. The public certainly seems to think so or am I grossly misguided in where these stats come from ?

Yea, I know. As I said. It's nice. My experience is that I don't buy it. People can be pretty cagey, and so can I. Pts and families usually like me, but for a fair percentage, especially with kids, they will watch and you have to prove to them that you know what you are doing and that you care. I say, what's wrong with that? Doesn't bother me one bit.

People are protective over their bodies and families. I mean aren't you?

I've also picked up time with babies in home care. The better majority of them now have audio-visual on their babies and in the environment on the nurses. Again, that doesn't bother me one bit. If my kid were on a vent (or even not on a vent), and had to have many different things done to them, heck, I'd probably do the same thing.

Sorry, I just feel like the poll doesn't necessarily represent how people really think. I mean it's one thing to talk in generalities. It's a whole other deal when you or your loved one or baby is receiving care from other people.

I have always accepted that it was on me to build trust with patients and families and others.

Just not sure what that poll actually means or how we can expand it in terms of generality.

[CherylRNBSN]

I find it interesting that psychiatrists get their own distinction from other medical doctors.

I have an opinion about this gleaned from an unpleasant experience: Medical doctors are able to turn toward very rigorous, scientific, and objective evidence to support their diagnoses.

Psychiatry, on the other hand, is stuck with FAR less objective data to support their's. It can take YEARS to get an accurate psychiatric diagnosis. Yet some are rendered upon first encounter. There are no lab tests to confirm their diagnoses. It is merely one person's OPINION, which may or may not be reached by another practitioner.

Are you Borderline, or just way overstressed, with a sensitive, emotional bent? Are you truly a Narcissist, or do just have an overdeveloped ego and are a bit of a jackass? Do you actually have ADD, or are you unmotivated and/or depressed, or lazy, and that's just who you are?

Labeling individuals is fraught w difficulty. Their main diagnostic tool is the MMPI, which is far from perfect, and does not render a picture of a holistic human being, and cannot be interpreted on face value. It only points one way, and cannot be interpreted out of the context of a person's life history.

And therapy? I personally feel that those who are highly suggestible may attually be at risk when in therapy.

We are all far more than the sum of our parts, or even our short term behaviors. Psychiatric pts. must be observed over time, and all behavior must be viewed in CONTEXT of circumstances and that pts particular history.

All of these things make diagnosis and treatment difficult.

Read the DSM, and see how many diagnoses you might see yourself fitting!

The DSM and the MMPI really suck compared to cardiac enzymes and CT scans!

I believe this is why pure medicine is a separate issue from psychiatry. Psychiatry is FAR from exact.

[CherylRNBSN]

I think the results of the poll are indicative of the following:

The role of nurses as patient advocate. Period. I see that as my number one professional responsibility. We ARE the 24 hr link to the doctor! Pts and family members KNOW this, and I think these results reflect that....it's because of all the wonderful nurses who say "I see your pain is not being managed, let me notify the doc and see what we can do." Or, "You are having a big surgery tomorrow, and will be on narcotics and mostly in bed for a few days. When was your last BM? 4 days ago? Okay, let's get you a laxative today. No need for minor constipation to turn into major discomfort!" Or taking the time and effort to simply make someone more comfortable, by performing thorough oral care on a pt. who is mouth breathing, dehydrated, and dying. By cheerleading! "Great job of ambulating and deep breathing, I know you are in pain, but this is going to speed your recovery!" By educating and comforting family members, telling them what to expect, seeking an early hospice referral, the list goes on and on.

And this poll is very heartening! Despite the fact that we are often over-worked, the public clearly recognizes our role and it's importance in health care delivery.