We're #1: "Most Honest and Ethical Profession" ...

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Forwarded by PSNA.org:

Public Rates Nursing as Most Honest and Ethical Profession

Image of the clergy recovers to late 1990s level, is still lower than in 2000 and 2001

by Joseph Carroll

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Nurses top Gallup's annual survey on the honesty and ethics of various professions, followed by other medical professionals like doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, and dentists. Car salesmen, HMO managers, insurance salesmen, and advertising practitioners are rated as the least honest and ethical. Overall, there has been little change in the public's rating of the honesty and ethics of professions over the past year. The public's image of the clergy has partially recovered from last year's child sexual abuse scandals, while the images of business executives and stockbrokers remain slightly lower than they were before the recent wave of business scandals.

Full report:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr031201.asp

My hospital system CEO sent above article to ALL facilities in multi-hospital health system and THANKED nurses. He even remembers my name when we meet at meetings..... I want full banner proclaiming this news hanging on the sides of our hospital buildings, like they do with being one of top 100 ICU's in country. Karen

[CCU NRS]

We should be number one at something! Thanks for the info!

[Agnus]

So were does that put me. I am an RN and have a dealership license to sell cars. USED Cars no less:roll

I saw some numbers this week and was relieve to see some other product or industry (forgot what) was rated #1 for customer complaints. I felt smug until I saw car sales rated #2.

I won't dispute for a second there are a lot of low lifes out there selling cars. Our dealership was ripped by thousands of $ by one, this year. The not only attack the public but they attack each other.

However, there are those who are very honest and ethical. It is luck, I think to find the latter kind. It truly disgust me what goes on in the industry.

Anyway YEA for nurses. And we were worring about our immage.. Actually I think this should give us the motivation to go out and educatate about what we do. And promote our own image. We already have thier trust.

On another note this letter writing campaingn that has made the news about nurses vs. ER TV show. We need to educate the public about our role. We need to make it more attractive. It is a cop out to blame ER for our immage or to blame it for the shortage. ERs role is to entertain not educate. They do have qualified tec advisors but they are storytellers and entertainers and will always take creative license to meet those ends.

We need to speak out to the public our selves. Stop asking TV press etc to do it for us. We are articulate, educated, and intellilgent. WHY oh why do we think a reporter, TV drama or someone else should be the one to tell the world what we do when WE are the ones who really know?

C'mon this problem existed long before ER or even TV shows. It is art following reality not the other way around.

IT is so easy to blame it takes GUTS and WORK to do something constructive.

[Agnus]

Karen,

If people trust us why to we need to post banners telling them that they trust us?

The public is responsible for us sitting at the top of this chart. They are the ones who said we trust nurses most.

Post it in you scrapbook for yourself. To remind YOU that you are trused.

I persononally do not put this in the same catgory as being in the to 100 hospitals. The public did not put us there an acrediting agency did. So the public is unaware.

Telling someone that they trust me seems self defeating. If that individual does not trust nurses saying that everyone else does doesn't win a friend.

Enjoy is relish it. I understand your exuberance and excitement.

Yes, I know we put ourselves there as did the hospital but it was the public or acrediting agency that recognizes it.

Telling the acrediting agency that they rated your hospital #1 will have no infulence on your staying in that postition. The public is no different.