Published On: December 22, 2015254 words1.5 min readCategories: Press ReleaseTags: ,

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Arlington, Va. – Gallup’s always-anticipated Honesty and Integrity survey finds pharmacists ranked second again this year – behind only nurses – and in the top three for the 13th straight year.

The annual survey measures the public’s trust of diverse professions, including but also well beyond healthcare.

“This annual Gallup survey presents another data point in the strong and growing case for pharmacy patient care,” said National Association of Chain Drug Stores President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE. “NACDS’ own opinion research shows another interesting finding: that those who have more first-hand experience with pharmacist-provided services feel even more strongly about their value.

“These positive attitudes are translating into ever-stronger bipartisan support for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy initiatives in the U.S. Congress, as well as an expansion of the pharmacists’ scope of practice in the states.”

Anderson noted that federal legislation to improve access to pharmacist-provided services among underserved Medicare patients (S. 314/H.R. 592) now is cosponsored by 39 U.S. Senators and 262 U.S. Representatives. He also noted that in 2007, pharmacists were not yet able to provide flu vaccines in all 50 states, and as of 2015 they can administer three adult vaccines in all 50 states.

The exact question asked by Gallup is as follows: “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?” For pharmacists, 68-percent said “very high” or “high.” For nurses, 85-percent responded in that way. Medical doctors ranked third, followed by high school teachers.