Recently Gallup, a large surveying company, took a poll of "How would you rate the ethical standards of the following professions?  The sample size was 1,015 adults that were randomly sampled....usually even a sample size of 30 is enough to make decent outcomes. 
The results of this poll on ethics in professions were quite stunning to me....

There are three main items that are either surprising or interesting to me:

1. I find it very interesting, not so surprising, that nurses (and probably healthcare providers in general) are seen as 85% very ethical, a whopping 23% higher than the next closest, being dentists
2. I was very surprised and saddened by the fact that the general public feel that 52% of clergy are very ethical.  Essentially they view half of all clergy as ethical....not good!  My personal experience is not that way at all, but it makes me sad that others feel that way.
3. Very interesting that members of congress and car salespeople are rated nearly identical at 10% and 8% ethical respectively.  I see a major problem with this rating as well as these are individuals that we, as a people of the nation, vote in.

Just thought I would share those thoughts with you.  Being in the healthcare industry it makes me realize that we, as healthcare providers and supporters, have a large mantle to carry and to ensure that our patients are cared for in a very moral, medically sound, ethical manner.  We are of course dealing with people's lives!