Health Carousel Announces Substantial Multi-Year Commitment to Nurse Education

Health Carousel, LLC, a healthcare management company that delivers workforce and healthcare staffing solutions, including travel nurses, locum tenens, and international healthcare providers, recently announced "a three-year commitment of $200,000 to fund a variety of nurse training and education programs in the United States and abroad." The announcement aligns with the company's mission to support nurse education and expands on several other initiatives the company has introduced over the years.

Bill DeVille, founder and board chair of Health Carousel, comments: "We're making a substantial financial and administrative commitment, but it's much needed to support the nursing profession and the many challenges that grew during the [COVID-19] pandemic." He continues, "Investing in nursing's future is a tradition at Health Carousel that we quietly celebrate. 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 United States and internationally."

Building on Health Carousel's Light the Way Initiative

This significant three-year commitment is just a small part of the work Health Carousel does through its Light the Way initiative, which focuses on the ethical and sustainable recruitment of nurses throughout the world.

Health Carousel's Light the Way program, established in 2020, serves as a funnel for the companies' ethical recruitment practices and global nursing sustainability programs and activities. Through the program, Health Carousel aims to "improve upon [its] high standards as a social enterprise that makes strategic investments in the global nursing community." The company invests in "nurse recognition, scholarship, and training programs as a means to develop more nurses abroad than [it recruits] to America."

DeVille notes, "I am not aware of any other company, whose primary undertaking is the global movement of healthcare professionals, that has set a global sustainability benchmark for its organization. If it is happening, it's a rarity."

Health Carousel PassportUSA

Health Carousel's Light the Way initiative builds on services already provided by the company, specifically its international staffing program PassportUSA. Through this program, Health Carousel offers its clients turnkey recruitment, credentialing, visa sponsorship, relocation, U.S. acclimation coaching, clinical transition assistance, and subject matter expertise through its Quality Improvement Team (QIN). The goal of PassportUSA is to provide long-term workforce strategies to overcome chronic healthcare worker shortages. 

According to Health Carousel representatives, "[The company] connects understaffed organizations to a sustainable network of credentialed, qualified nurses, therapists, and allied providers. [Its] signature PassportUSA program provides an easy, end-to-end experience for all. Facilities get a talent pipeline, lower costs, and improved clinical outcomes. Providers get a transparent, knowledgeable partner to create their own American experience." 

Working with registered nurses, medical technologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists, PassportUSA helps healthcare organizations exceed their growth goals and meet increasing patient demand. 

DeVille explains, "It has never been so evident as during these uncertain times of COVID-19, that highly successful organizations such as Health Carousel have a certain social responsibility that heightens as they grow. As a social enterprise, we like to say that 'we do well by doing good.' Light the Way puts a lot of our development and reinvestment activities for clients, healthcare professionals, internal employees, and even foreign government entities under one umbrella. It is somewhat coincidental, but very meaningful, that all of this is coming together during a year when the fortitude and ethics of companies and individuals are being put to the test."

Additional Light the Way funding has been distributed through the company's partnership with the DAISY Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to "recognizing nurses for the compassionate care they provide no matter where they practice, in whatever role they serve, throughout their careers." Together, the two organizations have formed the International Advocate program, "which expands DAISY's worldwide reach to more countries with severe nursing shortages ... PassportUSA is providing DAISY Awards for nurses in Ghana and Uganda, both of whose government health agencies needed sponsorship to bring recognition awards to their compassionate nurses."

Distribution of Funds

The $200,000 from Health Carousel's latest multi-year commitment will be used to build nurse education capacity in the United States and beyond and help overcome recent challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Earl Dalton, Health Carousel chief nursing officer (CNO), explains, "[Our] investment battles against industry trends that threaten patient care ... Namely, experienced nurses in the United States 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." 

The company's new initiative attempts to address the current crisis in nursing education: "According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in 2019, U.S. 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 is reflected in the low pass rates of students [who are] taking the country's nurse licensure exam. Similar difficulties persist worldwide."

Dalton concludes, "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."

While "discussions are currently underway with several professional and nationality-specific, U.S.-based nursing organizations to administer the awards," Health Carousel reveals a majority of the funds will be allocated to support "nurses wishing to pursue a graduate or postgraduate nursing degree."

For example, "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 (UNMU). Additional programs are under development."

Health Carousel Provides International Support

This recent announcement from Health Carousel is one more example of the company's ongoing commitment to promoting positive change throughout the world. In addition to its Light the Way program and PassportUSA, Health Carousel has developed a traveling nurse program and a locum tenens program for its clients. 

Health Carousel Travel Nursing Program

Thanks to the Health Carousel Travel Nursing (NCTN) program, healthcare facilities around the nation have unparalleled access to a network of highly qualified nurses and allied healthcare professionals. Health Carousel strives to provide medical assistance when and where facilities are in most need. 

Company representatives explain, "We understand the critical demand for clinicians and the constraints of today's market - and we can help. Ranked among the top staffing agencies in the nation, we are building the omnichannel healthcare staffing business of the future."

Health Carousel Locum Tenens

Through its Health Carousel Locum Tenens (NCLT) program, the company offers a "staffing solution that delivers easier, faster access to a nationwide pool of highly qualified physicians and advanced practice providers." Locum tenens providers take the place of regular physicians while they are temporarily absent. 

Health Carousel gives clients access to a full suite of locum tenens specialties, dedicated specialty recruiting teams, and technology-led recruiting, credentialing, verification, and onboarding programs. Its flexible solutions are designed to meet every client's unique needs, providing better patient care, on-demand staffing, and business flexibility while helping agencies thrive and prevent burnout of healthcare professionals. 

Health Carousel Dedicates Itself to Positive Change

As the 17th largest healthcare staffing company in the United States, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, Health Carousel aims to deliver the finest healthcare talent and workforce management solutions so every patient has access to qualified healthcare professionals when and where they need them. This most recent announcement continues to show how Health Carousel works to positively shape the future by helping the healthcare industry overcome challenges with staffing in areas all across the globe. 

Health Carousel has been consistently recognized as one of the best places to work in Cincinnati, Ohio, and one of the fastest-growing private companies in America. It also won Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2018.