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U.S. healthcare workers rate Trump’s handling of COVID as ‘poor’

British nurses demonstrated in London for higher pay. - AFP
British nurses demonstrated in London for higher pay. - AFP

SheerID has surveyed over 500 frontline health workers, based in the U.S., on a variety of topics. The objective was to gain a perspective of the views of frontline workers and the challenges they have been facing during the past twelve months of the coronavirus.

Party politics

In relation to their political leanings and the handling of the pandemic, healthcare workers were asked whether the Biden or the Trump administration had handled the situation better? With Biden, given it remains early days, the biggest response was to express a ‘neutral’ opinion (by 40 percent of those polled) when it came to rating the Biden administration. Most expressed a wait-and-see approach.

In terms of the Trump time in office, the majority (51 percent) rated the handling of the coronavirus by the Trump administration as ‘poor’ or ‘inadequate’. Remarkably, 31 percent stated the response was between and ‘adequate’ or ‘excellent.’ In terms of those with no strong opinion, 14 percent said they were ‘neutral’ on the subject of Trump and his approach to healthcare and the pandemic.

Robustness of the health system

In terms of the shape of the healthcare system to deliver an effective national response to the pandemic, a majority were of the view that the system was prepared to respond to the current pandemic as well as future threats (at 56 percent). This perhaps begs the question as to why the response has not been as effective when the poll participants believe the system can deliver?

Working in healthcare

As to whether healthcare workers enjoy working in health, a sizable number were less keen on the profession today than they were twelve months ago. Here 41 percent said their overall job satisfaction has gone down since the start of the pandemic. In contrast, just 24 percent stated that their satisfaction with their roles has gone up.

There is also a perception that the ability to do the job well has fallen, with 59 percent stating that morale in today’s healthcare workforce has gone down since they began their career. The number taking the opposite line is far smaller, with just 24 percent stating that morale has risen.

Despite this, healthcare work still remains a worthy profession in the eyes of those employed in the system. This is borne out in the findings that the vast majority of respondents (83 percent) would still encourage a family member to pursue a career in healthcare.

Public appreciation

One way that appreciation is shown for healthcare workers is through brand appreciation. But which companies are happy to offer discounts? The number and size of the discounts vary. In terms of what healthcare workers would like to receive discounts for, the number one is “restaurants” at 77 percent. This is followed by “apparel” (70 percent), “travel” (69 percent), “insurance” (66 percent) and “computers/mobile devices” (62 percent).

The full survey results can be accessed here.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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