The public continues to regard nurses as the professionals with the most integrity, according to the annual Gallup Poll on professional honesty and ethics. Survey respondents were asked to rate 21 professions on a 5-point scale ranging from very high to very low. The professionals with the highest ethical ratings are nurses (82%), pharmacists (67%), medical doctors (65%), high school teachers (64%), policemen (61%), and clergy (54%). At the bottom of the list: telemarketers and car salesmen.

Nurses have ranked first in this poll every year since they were first included in 1999, with the exception of 2001, when firefighters earned the highest rating. Firefighters weren't included in this year's poll.