Poll: Most people comfortable seeing Nurse Practitioners for routine care

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of Likely U.S. Voters favor training and licensing of nurse practitioners to expand the level of routine medical care they provide. Only 20% oppose such training and licensing, with another 12% not sure about it. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Seventy-seven percent (77%) say they would be at least somewhat comfortable visiting a trained and licensed nurse practitioner for routine medical care, with 45% saying they would be Very Comfortable. Eighteen percent (18%) would not be comfortable visiting a nurse practitioner, but that includes just five percent (5%) who would be Not At All Comfortable.

Most voters (52%) also think the quality of health care would improve if routine medical care was handled by nurse practitioners and doctors were able to focus more on challenging health care issues. Just 20% think the quality of health care would be reduced under that scenario, and 10% say it would have no impact. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.