TRENTON, NJ – Most people in New Jersey, and in the country for that matter, like their nurses better than their doctors.
In a recent Gallup survey, Americans expressed their confidence in various healthcare entities, highlighting a stark contrast between highly rated nurses and doctors and less favorably viewed sectors like pharmaceutical companies and nursing homes.
The survey, part of Gallup’s 2023 Health and Healthcare study conducted from November 1-21, shows nurses at the forefront of positive perception, with 82% of respondents rating their care as excellent or good. Doctors follow at 69%, indicating a strong public trust in these professionals. Hospitals, walk-in clinics, and telemedicine services also received majority positive ratings, albeit at lower percentages.
Contrastingly, less than half of the survey participants viewed hospital emergency rooms, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, and nursing homes positively. Notably, poor ratings for pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and nursing homes, were as high or higher than fair ratings, underscoring significant public skepticism.
These findings align with earlier polls, including a West Health-Gallup survey revealing widespread reluctance towards nursing home living due to quality of care concerns. Furthermore, Gallup’s honesty and ethics ratings in December 2022 echoed these results, with nurses leading in public trust among professions and the pharmaceutical industry rated poorly in industry sector surveys.
The survey also revealed a decline in positive perceptions of most healthcare entities since 2003 and 2010, except for walk-in clinics and nurses. Factors such as rising healthcare costs, the opioid crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine mandates, and healthcare staff shortages may have influenced these changing views.
Despite these shifts, the majority of Americans still see telemedicine as providing quality care, although slightly less favorably than in-person doctor visits. This indicates a perceived gap in the virtual healthcare experience.