Nurses Named the Most Trusted Profession for the 24th Consecutive Year

If you’re a nurse educator, clinician, or nurse leader, this probably won’t surprise you—but it’s still worth celebrating. For the 24th year in a row, nurses have been named the most trusted profession in the United States, according to the annual Gallup^® Most Honest and Ethical Professions poll. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of, especially in a time when public trust in many institutions and professions continues to decline.

As nurses, we live this trust every day—in the classroom, at the bedside, in simulation labs, during clinical conferences, and in the quiet moments when students or patients ask, “What would you do?” Gallup’s findings simply put national data behind what we already know: nursing’s ethical foundation remains strong.

Trust Has Shifted—but Nursing Endures

It’s also important to acknowledge nuance in the data. While nurses remain the most trusted profession, trust ratings across healthcare, and across society more broadly, have declined from pandemic-era highs. Nursing’s current rating is lower than its 2020 peak, reflecting broader shifts in public perception following COVID-19.

For nurse educators, this context matters. Our students are entering a profession that is still deeply trusted, but also increasingly visible, scrutinized, and asked to lead in complex environments. Ethics, professionalism, and moral courage are no longer abstract concepts; they are daily expectations placed on nurses at every level.

Why This Matters for Nurse Educators

Gallup’s findings reinforce something nurse educators understand intuitively: trust in nursing does not begin at the bedside; it begins in education. Every classroom discussion, clinical debrief, simulation scenario, and mentoring conversation contributes to how future nurses understand ethical practice and professional responsibility.

As educators, we are not only teaching clinical knowledge and technical skills; we are shaping professional identity. Students watch how we navigate ethical gray areas, how we speak about patients, colleagues, and systems, and how we respond when values are challenged. In many ways, we serve as our students’ first sustained exposure to what it truly means to be a nurse.

In a healthcare environment marked by increasing complexity, visibility, and moral distress, this work matters more than ever. Graduates are entering practice where public trust remains high, but expectations are equally demanding. They are expected to lead, to advocate, and to make sound ethical decisions in fast-moving, high-stakes settings. Preparing them for that reality is central to the educator role.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) underscores that this trust is not simply an honor—it is a responsibility. “After 24 consecutive years at the top of this Gallup poll, this trust is more than an accolade,” said ANA President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. “It affirms the essential leadership role nurses play on the national stage of healthcare, in policy, in strengthened communities, and in advancing equitable, high-quality care” (American Nurses Association, 2025).

That leadership does not emerge spontaneously at graduation. It is cultivated deliberately, beginning with nursing education.

Ethics, Access, and Advocacy: The Educational Imperative

The ANA also highlights a critical connection between trust and access to care. Trust in nurses reinforces the need for policies that ensure patients can receive nurse-led care across all settings—and that nurses are supported with safe workplaces, sustainable staffing, and resources to practice to the full extent of their education (American Nurses Association, 2025).

For educators, this means continuing to integrate:

• Advocacy and health policy content
• Systems thinking and leadership development
• Ethical reasoning across didactic, clinical, and simulation experiences

When students understand why nurses are trusted, they are better prepared to uphold and extend that trust.

A Moment to Pause and Be Proud

Twenty-four consecutive years at the top of Gallup’s trust rankings is more than a statistic. It’s a reflection of millions of everyday interactions between nurses and patients, nurses and students, nurses and communities.

As a nurse writing to nurses, this is a moment to pause, reflect, and take pride in the profession we serve and shape. Trust like this doesn’t happen by accident. It’s taught, modeled, reinforced, and renewed—one nurse, one student, one decision at a time.

References

• American Nurses Association. (2025). Nurses ranked most trusted profession for the 24th consecutive year. https://www.nursingworld.org
• Brenan, M. (2025). Nurses continue to lead in honesty and ethics ratings. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/700736/nurses-continue-lead-honesty-ethics-ratings.aspx?version=print