Health Care Workers Are Most Trusted Americans

While doctors, pharmacists and nurses rank high, members of Congress are the least trusted, says a recent Gallup poll.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNSNews.com) - Doctors, pharmacists and nurses are the most trusted people in America and Members of Congress are the least trusted, according to a new Gallup poll completed as Congress is debating a bill that would restructure the U.S. health care system and give people in government vastly more power over health-care professionals.

Members of Congress and car salesmen belong to the only two professions included in the poll that a majority of Americans rate as having "low" or "very low" honesty and ethical standards.

Journalists, advertising practitioners and lawyers, among other professions, out-rank Members of Congress for honesty and ethical standards, according to Gallup's data, although Americans do not rate the honesty and ethical standards of journalists, advertising practitioners and lawyers nearly as highly as the honesty and ethical standards of those in the health-care professions.

Gallup asked 1,017 American adults the following question: "Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields--very high, high, average, low or very low?" The survey takers then read the respondents a list of 22 different professions.

Nurses were by far the most esteemed. Eighty-three percent of Americans rated them as either "very high" or "high" for honesty and ethical standards. Pharmacists ranked second, narrowly edging out doctors, with 66% rating pharmacists "very high" or "high" for honesty and ethical standards and 65% giving doctors those high ratings.

Policemen (63%), engineers (62%) and dentists (57%) ranked fourth, fifth and sixth for the percentage of Americans giving them "high" or "very high" ratings for their honesty and ethics.

When the professions included in the poll are ranked by the percentage of Americans who give its practitioners a "low" or "very low" rating for their honesty and ethical standards, Members of Congress win. Fifty-five percent gave Members of Congress a low or very low rating for honesty and ethical standards. Car salesman placed second with 51% giving them a low or very low rating. Senators--who were rated separately from Members of Congress--placed third, with 49% giving them a low or very low rating.

Forty percent rated the honesty and ethical standards of lawyers as low or very low, while 38% gave advertising practitioners low or very low ratings, and 31% gave journalists low or very low ratings.

Unlike nurses, pharmacists and doctors, one element of the health care industry did rate very poorly. Forty-three percent of Americans rated the honesty and ethical standards of HMO managers as low or very low. That put HMO managers in fifth place on the least-trusted list, after Members of Congress (55%), car salesmen (51%), senators (49%) and stockbrokers (46%).

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Insurance salesman did poorly also, placing sixth on the least-trusted list with 42% of Americans rating their honesty and ethical standards as low or very low.

In its analysis of the poll, Gallup said that public disregard for the honesty and ethical standards of Members of Congress is now at an all-time high. "Congress has long ranked among the worst-rated professions on Gallup's annual Honesty and Ethics of Professions list," said the analysis. "Now, it has earned the unwelcome distinction of having a majority of Americans rate its integrity as low or very low."

Here are the 22 professions included in the Gallup poll ranked by the percentage of Americans who gave its practitioners a "high" or "very high" rating for honesty and ethical standards:

1. Nurses (83%)
2. Pharmacists (66%)
3. Medical doctors (65%)
4. Policemen (63%)
5. Engineers (62%)
6. Dentists (57%)
7. College teachers (54%)
8. Clergy (50%)
9. Chiropractors (34%)
10. Psychiatrists (33%)
11. Journalists (23%)
12. Bankers (19%)
13. State governors (15%)
14. Lawyers (13%)
15. Business executives (12%)
16. Advertising practitioners (11%)
17. Senators (11%)
18. Insurance salesmen (10%)
19. Stockbrokers (9%)
20. Members of Congress (9%)
21. HMO managers (8%)
22. Car salesmen (6%)

Here are the 22 professions included in the Gallup poll ranked by the percentage of Americans who gave its practitioners a "low" or "very low" rating for honesty and ethical standards:

1. Members of Congress (55%)
2. Car salesman (51%)
3. Senators (49%)
4. Stockbrokers (46%)
5. HMO Managers (43%)
6. Insurance salesmen (42%)
7. Lawyers (40%)
8. Advertising practitioners (38%)
9. Business executives (38%)
10. State governors (35%)
11. Bankers (33%)
12. Journalists (31%)
13. Psychiatrists (15%)
14. Chiropractors (12%)
15. College teachers (11%)
16. Clergy (10%)
17. Policemen (10%)
18. Dentists (7%)
19. Medical doctors (7%)
20. Pharmacists (5%)
21. Engineers (4%)
22. Nurses (2%)

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