(HealthNewsDigest.com) – SILVER SPRING, Md., Dec. 21, 2015  — Nursing continues to be rated the most trusted profession, according to the annual Gallup poll ranking of honesty and ethics in various fields.

For the past 14 years, the public has voted nurses as the most honest and ethical profession in America. This year, 85 percent of Americans rated nurses’ honesty and ethical standards as “very high” or “high,” tying a nurses’ high point on the Gallup poll and 17 percentage points above any other profession.

“It’s essential that we leverage this trust to lead and implement change in the health care system,” saidPamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA). “Hospitals, health care systems and other organizations are lacking an important perspective and can’t make fully competent decisions if they don’t have registered nurses at the board table or in the C-Suite.  That’s why ANA is a member of the Nurses on Boards Coalition, working to place 10,000 nurses on boards by 2020.”

Ethics is an essential part of nursing practice. This includes an ethical responsibility to ensure the safety of patients and the health and wellness of nurses and other health care providers. In 2015, ANA released a revision of its Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, a cornerstone document of the nursing profession that reflects many changes and evolutions in health care and considers the most current ethical challenges nurses face in practice. The release was just one component of the “Year of Ethics,” a series of activities emphasizing the importance of ethics in nursing practice.

In 2016, ANA will build on this concept of ethical and shared responsibility by launching a year-long “Culture of Safety” campaign to drive changes leading to a safer health care system. The campaign will also highlight how patients, communities and the nursing profession can benefit from efforts to foster a culture of safety in health care. For more information, please visit NursingWorld.org.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is the premier organization representing the interests of the nation’s 3.4 million registered nurses. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting a safe and ethical work environment, bolstering the health and wellness of nurses, and advocating on health care issues that affect nurses and the public. ANA is at the forefront of improving the quality of health care for all.

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