The public’s perception of nursing home operators has changed little over the past six years, according to the latest Gallup Poll. Operators ranked 13th in the recent Gallup survey of Americans’ opinions of 21 professions in honesty and ethics. They were rated below nurses (No. 1), medical doctors (#5) and auto mechanics (No. 11) and above Congressmen (#18), lawyers (No. 19) and car salesmen (No. 21, or last).
Nursing home operators were among 11 professions whose ratings have changed little over the past few years, according to Gallup. This year, 24% of Americans ranked operators “high” or “very high” in ethics and honesty. That compares to 22% in 1999.
Ratings of two professions — pharmacists and state officeholders — reached new highs, according to Gallup. Pharmacists were ranked third and state officeholders were ranked 14th this year.
Also, while nurses ranked at the top of the list, public perceptions of nurses’ ethics show a slight decrease this year, dropping back to levels found in 2000, Gallup said.
