To mark International Nurses Day 2022, Health Carousel, LLC, the 17th-largest healthcare staffing company in the US, has pledged $200,000 to support various nurse education and training programs across the US. This multi-year, large-scale commitment is only a part of the Health Carousel Light the Way project that focuses on ethical hiring practices and the future of the nurse field.
The Light the Way program at Health Carousel is named after Florence Nightingale, who pioneered modern nursing. Because she was able to care for wounded soldiers at night using only a low-oil lamp as light, she was called “The Lady With the Lamp.” Health Carousel’s Light the Way program has been ongoing since its inception in 2004.
Funding For the U.S. and International Nursing Programs
On the U.S. side, a portion of Health Carousel’s money has been set aside for Light the Way Scholarships. These awards will go to nurses pursuing advanced or graduate nursing degrees. The award distribution process is being discussed with a number of US-based professional and nationality-specific nurse groups. Health Carousel has already chosen Chamberlain University as its preferred partner in nursing education.
Light the Way funds global projects that support nurses in their work. The money will partly be used to finance scholarships for Ph.D.-holding nurse educators in the Philippines. This will increase the number of qualified nursing students there and improve the quality of instruction. More funding is being earmarked for a nursing training laboratory in Uganda, made possible with the help of the Uganda Nurse and Midwives Union.
Light the Way Program Illuminates the Needs of Educators and Nursing Education
Bill DeVille is the founder of Health Carousel and the board chair. He said, “We’re making an enormous commitment, but it was vital to help nurses, especially with the many issues that came up during this pandemic.”
Health Carousel decided to make this vital contribution to address the ever-increasing global shortage of nurses. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, more than 80,000 qualified applicants were rejected by US nursing schools in 2019 because there weren’t enough instructors. Most nursing faculty members in the Philippines lack advanced education or training, demonstrating why they cannot pass the country’s nurse licensure exam. These problems are not unique to the Philippines and are occurring worldwide.
Earl Dalton, Health Carousel’s Chief Nursing Officer, says these projects immediately affect patient care. Dalton states that Health Carousel’s investment is against dangerous trends in an industry that could put patient care at risk. “In particular, the number of highly-trained nurses in the USA is declining rapidly, and it’s becoming more challenging to meet the needs of our older patients. It’s difficult to find nurses with enough experience to teach newer nurses. We strongly believe that Health Carousel’s investment in nursing schools and graduate degrees is a great way to address this problem.
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