ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Gallup Inc.’s annual Honesty and Ethics survey reveals that pharmacists rank second only to nurses as the most trusted professionals.

Of 1,015 U.S. adults polled, 75% rated pharmacists "very high" or "high" in terms of honesty and ethics. That put pharmacists at No. 2 of the 22 professions examined, behind nurses (85% rated very high/high) and ahead of medical doctors (70% rated very high/high) and engineers (70% rated very high/high).

“This year’s survey further emphasizes that pharmacists are the face of neighborhood health care, serving as accessible health care providers, with nearly all Americans living within five miles of a community pharmacy,” said National Association of Chain Drug Stores president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson, who noted pharmacists have garnered high public confidence for 10 consecutive years. “Not only do community pharmacists dispense prescription medications but they also provide a number of health services that help patients improve their health and also reduce health care costs.

“Pharmacists work one-to-one with patients providing medication counseling to help them understand the importance of taking medications as prescribed,” he says. “In addition, community pharmacists administer vaccinations, including flu shots as well as other vaccinations, and provide preventive health and education screenings as well as disease management. Pharmacists are also innovators, working to help electronically integrate health and prescription records, which will help in providing better overall patient care and help reduce administrative costs.”

Also expressing pleasure over the poll results is Doug Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association.

“Congratulations to America’s pharmacists for setting a record high in trustworthiness in Gallup’s annual survey for 2012,” said Hoey. “An impressive 75% of respondents categorized pharmacists very high/high by the honesty and ethics standard. Since the audience is the American people, this ranking is a testimony to the goodwill generated by the patient-friendly approach of pharmacists, who are accessible, responsive and take tremendous pride helping patients achieve the best health outcomes at the lowest costs.”