US consumers rate nurses as most ethical while trust in doctors fades

The trend: Nurses are ranked by US consumers as the most honest and ethical among a list of 23 occupations. But their faith in doctors is waning, according to a new Gallup poll of around 1,000 US adults, who were surveyed in December.

Digging into the data: Consumers think that healthcare workers are more honest and ethical when compared with other occupations such as business executives, members of Congress, and those in the media.

But: While nurses consistently earn high trust scores, trust in other medical professionals is dropping.

• 76% of respondents in this year’s poll rated nurses’ honesty and ethics as “high” or “very high.” Just 4% gave nurses a low ethics rating.
• 57% gave pharmacists a high rating, but that’s down six percentage points from 2021.
• Trust in doctors has fallen 14 percentage points (from 67% to 53%) since 2021, the highest drop among all professions.
• Nursing home operators are the one healthcare occupation that’s rated as a net negative, trusted by only 21% of consumers.

Why it matters: While US consumers’ negative perceptions are geared more toward medical institutions than individuals, their diminishing confidence in doctors as honest professionals is troubling.

The steep falloff in trust from 2021 to 2024 tells us that this is mostly pandemic-influenced. Doctors were highly rated in 2020 as the pandemic was just beginning, but trust levels plummeted as COVID-19 treatments emerged alongside the spread of medical misinformation online. Some Americans started to believe that physicians weren’t acting in their best interest and subsequently turned to the internet and social media for health advice.

The final word: Many patients spend more time per interaction with nurses and pharmacists than doctors—and these personal connections likely drive higher trust ratings. Healthcare marketers and providers must demonstrate to consumers that doctors in their community are accessible, compassionate, and will always prioritize the well-being of patients.

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