Pharmacists are one of the most honest and most trusted professions, which is beneficial if you run a pharmacy. Click here and find out why.
If you were to sit down and put together a list of the most trusted professions in the country, which professions would land on your list?
Doctors and nurses would probably appear near the top of it. So would police officers and firefighters.
Bankers and clergy members would also appear on most people’s lists. And even teachers and dentists would likely get a nod.
But pharmacists? Many people might not think of them right away. But as it turns out, they’re some of the most trusted people in the U.S. workforce at the moment.
Americans trust pharmacists more than police officers, judges, and even members of Congress! They have really made a name for themselves in terms of being trustworthy.
Continue reading to find out why pharmacist has turned into one of the most trusted professions.
Who Says Pharmacist Is One of the Most Trusted Professions?
Every year, Gallup conducts a poll that features them asking Americans to provide them with their most trusted professions. They did another poll like this at the top of 2018 and recently released the results.
The poll showed that 62 percent of the 1,049 Americans who were polled said that they believe pharmacists are very honest and ethical. This was good enough to put them in the fifth spot on the Gallup list, behind only nurses (82 percent), military officers (71 percent), grade school teachers (66 percent), and medical doctors (65 percent).
At the same time, pharmacists landed well ahead of cops (56 percent), judges (43 percent), mechanics (32 percent), newspaper reporters (25 percent), and lawyers (18 percent).
Additionally, only about 6 percent of those people polled said that they believe most pharmacists are dishonest and unethical. This bodes well for the entire pharmaceutical community.
This Isn’t Exactly a New Development
You might be surprised to see pharmacists land at the top of a list of the most trusted professions. But in reality, pharmacists have been getting a lot of respect from the American people for years now.
Back in 2016, pharmacists actually landed at No. 2 on the Gallup list with 67 percent of people finding them to be very honest and ethical.
If not for the fact that professions like military officers and grade school teachers received a bump over the last year, pharmacists might be even higher on the list than they are today.
There’s no telling what other professions could potentially climb the list next year and land higher than they did this year. But it seems like pharmacists are going to maintain their hold on one of the top slots for many years to come.
Why Do People Trust Pharmacists So Much?
Gallup revealed that being a pharmacist is one of the most trusted professions. But unfortunately, the research company didn’t reveal exactly why that is.
That leaves us to take our best guess as to why so many people trust pharmacists. But if you spend even just a few minutes thinking about it, it’s probably not all that difficult to figure it out.
America is experiencing an opioid epidemic at the moment that is killing thousands of people every year. There are more than 100 people dying every day due to opioid overdoses. And there has been a recent crackdown on who is able to get access to the drugs that are driving so many people in the direction of drug addiction.
Pharmacists are, in many ways, the gatekeepers for the drugs that are stored inside of pharmacies. They are in charge of providing people with the prescription drugs they need while also keeping a close eye out for fraudulent prescriptions and other criminal activity.
Pharmacists do, of course, need to abide by the instructions given to them by doctors. But they’re also one of the first lines of defense when it comes to keeping drugs out of the wrong hands.
In addition to playing a small role in the opioid epidemic, pharmacists are also in charge of providing people with the life-saving medicines they need to battle different diseases and conditions.
A pharmacist has to be able to take a prescription, fill it properly, and then tell a patient how to take the medication. It takes a lot of trust between a pharmacist and patient to go through this process successfully, and pharmacists are, by all accounts, doing a great job at following the proper protocol at all times.
They have earned the trust of the American people.
This Is Good News for Anyone Who Runs a Pharmacy
The fact that pharmacists are part of one of the most trusted professions is great news for Americans who count on them on a daily basis.
But it’s also great news for all of those people out there who run pharmacies. They know they can depend on their employees to do their job–and more importantly, to do them well–when they’re behind the pharmacy counter.
Whether pharmacists are speaking with patients about specific prescription drugs or telling them more about how to get better deals on their prescription drugs, pharmacy owners know they can put their trust in their employees.
Will Americans Continue to Trust Pharmacists?
Over the next decade, there are going to be a lot of new pharmacists entering the workforce.
Two years ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted the number of pharmacists would grow by about 6 percent between 2016 and 2026.
That means pharmacists are going to have to continue to establish trust with those who patronize their businesses.
But all indications are that pharmacists, both new and old, shouldn’t have any trouble doing that.
They are receiving the right training and taking the right steps to ensure that people continue to trust pharmacists in the future.
Find Pharmacists for Your Pharmacy Today
If you run a pharmacy, you should take pride in the trustworthiness of your employees. You should also continue to take steps to bring in the best employees. That means and they need to do their jobs.
for more information on how to improve your business over time.
