Nurses rank No. 1 for honesty and ethics in a Gallup poll

In the survey, 79% of Americans who responded rated nurses’ integrity and ethics as very high or high. The 2022 result’s two percentage points lower than the 2021 survey and 10 percentage points lower than the 2020 survey, when nurses were on the front lines in the course of the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This 12 months, nurses still far outperformed the professions of doctors (62%) and pharmacists (58%) – taking second and third place, respectively.

“Patients trust nurses to demonstrate empathy and provide safe and effective care when they are at their most vulnerable,” said Felicia Sadler, MJ, BSN, RN, CPHQ, LSSBB, partner in Acute Solutions at Relias. “This level of trust fosters an enhanced bond of mutual respect that leads to positive patient experiences and overall improvements in well-being and clinical outcomes.”

Since 1976, Gallup has been surveying the general public’s views on the integrity and ethics of pros, and over time, nurses have been trusted by the general public. Except for one 12 months – v 2001 when firefighters topped the list after 9/11 — nursing has outpaced all other professions because it was added as a category over twenty years ago.

The latest results are based on: Questionnaire was carried out within the period from November 9, 2022 to December 2, 2022. Ethical practice isn’t just empty declarations. Treating patients with compassion and respect has all the time been a part of nurses’ beliefs.

“Code of Ethics [for Nurses] helps nurses by giving them a structure on how to take ownership of their responsibilities within the practice of nursing, and helps them make those decisions based on what will provide the most optimal care for the patient,” said Emily Emma, ​​DNP, RN- BC, NEA-BC, Director of Magnet and Professional Practice at Stony Brook University Hospital (NY), on the Nurse.com blog “Having ethical principles in nursing really helps the nurse make the best, most moral decisions for herself, doctors and patients.”

2022 is marked by old and recent challenges

By 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic had evolved from a full-blown global epidemic to an ongoing pandemic – one by which health care providers, researchers, and the general public higher understood the risks, symptoms, and impacts – but was still removed from over.

Nurses continued to look after Covid-19 patients and address concerns concerning the diagnosis. The pandemic has also exacerbated challenges that nurses faced before the COVID-19 pandemic and created recent ones. The biggest challenges facing nurses in 2022 include:

• Nurse burnout and moral damage
• Insufficient staff
• Work safety

“Most nurses enter this profession with the greatest hope that they will be able to provide excellent patient care and improve outcomes,” said Cara Lunsford, vice chairman of community for Relias and Nurse.com. Lunsford said nurses don’t seek the career due to prestige that may include climbing the profession ladder. “They do it because their true passion is providing excellent care,” she said. “Staff shortages and unsafe work environments prevent nurses from doing the jobs they signed up to do. “My greatest fear in the coming years is that the public will not understand why the quality of care is deteriorating and why nurses are striking.”

– According to test In Patient safety journal“Burnout is a public health crisis that impacts one-third of registered nurses in the United States and the safe delivery of patient care.”

Moral injury, often described as stemming from fear – fear of being unable to guard yourself, your patients, and even your loved ones – is the first explanation for nurse burnout.

Compared to the overall population, nurses are at greater risk of burnout and moral injury resulting from job demands, which puts them at increased risk of depression, anxiety, trauma-like symptoms, relationship problems and suicide, Relias Senior Clinical Effectiveness found . Consultant Rola Aamar, Ph.D 2022 Nurse Salary Survey Report by Nurse.com.

— Staff shortages make nurses query their profession selections. According to the Nurse.com blog, a McKinsey study found that just about one-third of nurses said they were considering leaving their direct patient care role. The most vital think about this decision was inadequate staffing levels and concerns about unsafe nursing rates.

— Whether it is a hospital medical surgical unit, a busy emergency department or patients’ homes, keeping nurses protected continues to be a problem that urgently must be addressed. AND National Nurses United study found that 48% of hospital nurses reported a rise in acts of violence. Despite these challenges, nurses proceed to place patients first.

“Right now, critical care nurses are struggling to keep their promises to patients due to an unhealthy work environment and lack of adequate staff,” said Amanda Bettencourt, Ph.D., APRN, CCRN-K, ACCNS-P, president American Association of Critical Care Nurses. “Knowing that the public sees us and appreciates our work at a time like this is priceless. We do what we do because of a deep commitment to providing high-quality, patient and family-centered care to all the people we serve.”

Why they became nurses

Often, nurses enter this career due to a dream of helping others or “paying it forward.” For some nurses, this dream has its roots in childhood.

“I knew from childhood that I wanted to become a nurse. I wrapped stuffed animals, friends and family in bandages and always tried to help others,” said Melanie Anon, RN, on the Nurse.com blog. Some nurses completely change their profession direction after seeing a nurse in motion.

For example, Maria E. Vanhart, RN, planned to pursue a level in musical theater and dance. As an adolescent, watching nurses look after her mother within the ICU modified her path.

“Sometimes I wish I had fulfilled my dreams of traveling the world singing, dancing and signing autographs,” she said on the Nurse.com blog. “Then I think that I will be able to save lives and all the people I cared for as they dealt with the darkest moments of their lives. I have lived a blessed life and have been fortunate to use my skills and compassion to help strangers suffer a little less.”

Over the years, nurses have been on the forefront of stories that illustrate not only their integrity and ethics, but additionally their compassion. The public has often witnessed nurses’ work before, during, and after natural disasters, within the aftermath of mass shootings, and in other extreme situations. And 2022 was no different.

Their work all year long has shown that the burden they decide to carry is heavy, and society is grateful. “The public’s positive perception of us is one of the things that motivates us, especially in these very difficult times,” Lunsford said.