We know there’s nothing more important to our readers than choosing the right medical practitioners. With this issue, New Jersey Monthly adds a new resource to help you identify the state’s best doctors. Nurses’ Choice is a list of recommended New Jersey doctors based on an online poll of licensed nurses from throughout the state.

Why nurses?

“Nurses are very interested in their patients’ care, and they see the results firsthand,” says David L. Knowlton, president and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (NJHCQI), which commissioned the survey.

Further, says Knowlton, “Nurses are the most trusted professionals in America.” Indeed, in a recent Gallup survey, 83 percent of Americans rated nurse “high” or “very high” for honesty and ethical standards. It was the eighth consecutive year that nurses held the top spot – ahead of professionals such as pharmacists, veterinarian and, yes, medical doctors.

Unlike doctors, however, nurses are eyewitnesses to patient care. What’s more, says Knowlton, they are trained to be deeply concerned with the patient experience, including pain, recovery time, and speed getting out of the hospital.

With these factors in mind, the Polling Institute at Monmouth University, which conducted the survey, used a weighting system that emphasized the nurses’ role in patient care. The highest weighting was given to nurses’ recommendations when they had taken part in procedures with the doctor. Medium weighting was used when the nurses had cared for patients after a procedure (recovery-room nurses, for example).

The resulting Nurses’ Choice list includes 180 doctors in 31 specialties. That’s far fewer than the 609 doctors in 60 specialties found in our November list of Top Doctors.

Surgery: Orthopedic:

Dr. Frank Alberta

See Full list and online article here