For the 17th consecutive year, the nurses are on top. A Gallop Poll found that 84% of respondents rated nurses as having “high” or “very high” standards of honesty and ethics, besting all other included professions.

Medical doctors came in second, with 67% of respondents rating them as having such standards, and pharmacists came in third (66%).

Of note, attorneys were rated just a little lower, with only 19% of respondents believing that their standards of honesty and ethics was “high” or “very high”.

That still beats telemarketers, car salespeople, and members of Congress, who brought up the rear in the study.

For victims of medical negligence claims, particularly those involving nursing care, this study reinforces the idea that it is likely a jury deciding a medical negligence case will come into a case with similar views, already coming into court with conscious or unconscious bias in favor of medical providers, and perhaps a negative bias toward lawyers.

While that does not mean that jurors will not listen to the facts and decide the case on the merits, it does illustrate the point that most folks think highly of the medical profession, and those same folks might give the benefit of the doubt to the nurse or the doctor.

You can read the full study here:

[Nurses Again Outpace Other Professions for Honesty, Ethics](https://news.gallup.com/poll/245597/nurses-again-outpace-professions-honesty-ethics.aspx)