Commitment to Support Nurse Education

In celebration of International Nurses Day and the Year of the Nurse Educator, Health Carousel, LLC, the 17th largest healthcare staffing agency in the US, today announced a three-year commitment of $200,000 to fund a variety of nurse training and education programs in the US and abroad. This substantial, multi-year investment represents a small portion of the work underway through the company's Light the Way initiative, which focuses on ethical recruitment and the sustainability of the nursing profession.

Health Carousel's Light the Way initiative takes its namesake from Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and known as the "The Lady With the Lamp" for the nightly rounds she made caring for wounded soldiers, guided only by a dim oil lamp. Since their inception in 2004, Health Carousel has maintained its Light the Way program, through which all of their programs and activities promoting ethical recruitment practices and global nursing sustainability have been funneled. Light the Way is proud on this International Nurses Day 2022, to announce additional efforts in the US and abroad.

Providing Support in the US and Abroad

In the United States, funding is earmarked to establish Light the Way Scholarships. These awards will primarily be given to nurses wishing to pursue a graduate or post-graduate nursing degree. Discussions are currently underway with several professional and nationality-specific US-based nursing organizations to administer the awards. Additionally, Chamberlain University was named a preferred nursing education partner for Health Carousel earlier this week.

Around the globe, Light the Way funds are earmarked for a variety of nursing sustainability endeavors. In the Philippines, funds will be used for Ph.D. nurse educator scholarships to improve both the student capacity of nursing schools and the quality of education they provide. In Uganda, funds are being used to establish a nurse training lab in coordination with the Uganda Nurse and Midwives Union. Additional programs are under development.

A Focus on Nurse Education and Educators

Health Carousel's decision that the funds are to be used to build nurse educational capacity is entirely purposeful, as it can lessen the US and global nursing shortage. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in 2019, US nursing schools turned away more than 80,000 qualified nursing applicants because of an insufficient number of faculty to teach them. In the Philippines, the majority of nursing faculty lack advanced education and training and this reflects in the low pass rates of their students taking the country's nurse licensure exam. Similar difficulties persist worldwide.

"We're making a substantial financial and administrative commitment, but it's much needed to support the nursing profession and its many challenges that grew during the pandemic," said Bill DeVille, Founder and Board Chair of Health Carousel. "Investing in nursing's future is a tradition at Health Carousel that we have quietly celebrated. Most don't realize that we have helped hundreds of nurses earn their Master's of Nursing degrees since our founding in 2004. Today, many recipients of these awards serve as nursing leaders and educators in the US and internationally."

Earl Dalton, Health Carousel Chief Nursing Officer explains that these investments have a direct impact on patient care.

"Health Carousel's investment battles against industry trends that threaten patient care,” said Dalton. “Namely, the experienced nurses in the US are rapidly leaving the nursing workforce and our patient population is becoming older, with much more complex care needs. The result is a widening experience-complexity gap. Put simply, there aren't enough veteran nurses to mentor younger ones. Health Carousel's investment in nursing training and advanced degrees is an effective way to address this situation."

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Learn more about our Light The Way initiative.

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