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Utah nurses are reacting tonight to the latest Gallup poll showing what they do is ranked the most honest and ethical among 21 professions.
With the exception of 2001, after 9/11 placed firefighters at the top of the list, nursing has remained consistently at the top of that list for the past seven years.
The fact that nurses got the highest ranking, some consider stunning. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed ranked the profession "high" or "very high" when it comes to issues of honesty and ethics.
But at colleges and schools of nursing across the country, those who teach nurses how to become nurses say they're not surprised.
"The physicians are not able to spend the time that they would like to spend at the bedside, but they count on the nurses to be the conduit and the communicator for them, and so then the patients become very dependent on that nurse," said Dr. Catherine Earl, chair of the Weber State University School of Nursing.
Earl echoes what the California Nurses Association said in April following another poll. "We believe, the profession believes, I believe it is the nurse who is central to patient safety, to patient care, and for the outcomes that happen," she said.
Her colleague, RN Geri Jenkins, says nurses every day have to stand up to make sure patients get the care they need in the face of an often uncaring medical system where profits and revenues too often interfere.
"Nursing really is the constant at the bedside for the patient. Those patients really have a lot of confidence in the nurses," Earl said.
Incidentally, the profession ranking among the lowest in this year's poll for honesty and ethics is the banking industry.
This is the first time in 12 years that the honesty and ethics of bankers has registered below 30 percent. This year's ranking was only 23 percent.
For the rankings of other professions, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: eyeates@ksl.com
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