Health Carousel’s CNO Earl Dalton Recognized as a Health Care Heroes Award Finalist

Health Carousel's Earl Dalton was recently recognized for his continued commitment to healthcare excellence via Cincinnati Business Courier award nomination.

Healthcare excellence can take a variety of forms. Bold entrepreneurs drive industry innovation, navigating obstacles while remaining focused on their vision. Skilled physicians and nurses provide superb patient care, often under challenging circumstances. Hospital and medical office support teams contribute to each facility's smooth operation.

Each year, the Cincinnati Business Courier honors individuals and organizations that have contributed to better-quality healthcare in Greater Cincinnati. In 2021, these Health Care Hero finalists included Health Carousel's Chief Nursing Officer Earl Dalton.

The Story Behind Earl Dalton's Nomination

In choosing its Health Care Hero, the Cincinnati Business Courier considers professionals who have positively impacted the region's health care in multiple ways. Each finalist has exhibited a deeply felt concern for patients while also demonstrating superior management skills. This health care professional has also developed career-enhancing employee programs while maintaining a strong dedication to industry-enhancing research.

Earl Dalton's Contributions to the Nursing Profession

During Earl Dalton's 20+ years of hospital health care experience, he has demonstrated extensive clinical knowledge. At the same time, he has shown a compassionate and reassuring bedside manner with his patients.

At Health Carousel since 2016, Earl Dalton's Registered Nurse credentials have enabled the company to view the nurse staffing industry from a real-world nurse's perspective. Most importantly, he keenly understands the importance of placing the right nurse in the right role at the right time. Through his efforts, he has reduced Health Carousel's nurse termination rate by 75 percent.

Earl Dalton also takes a large-scale view of the nurse staffing industry. He remains aware of the challenges inherent in managing a wide-ranging clinical staff during labor shortages and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic challenges.

At the same time, clinical and patient care standards must not be compromised. Toward that end, Dalton guides a skilled nurse manager team focused on maintaining high clinical quality standards.

These dedicated professionals also offer clinical guidance and mentorship to staff members working at client locations. During his Health Carousel tenure, Earl Dalton has helped to achieve industry-leading nurse and client satisfaction.

Providing Early-Pandemic Staffing Leadership  

During the COVID-19 pandemic's early weeks, many virus hot spots popped up across the United States. At the same time, many nurses became sick themselves, rendering them unable to care for rising numbers of patients.

Recognizing that a large-scale crisis was at hand, Earl Dalton and his nurse managers quickly put a plan into action. Dalton worked with Health Carousel's client service professionals, enabling the nurse management team to screen nurses on each client's behalf.

Earl Dalton's proactive response resulted in hundreds of new Rapid Response assignment billables and large-scale revenue increases. Most importantly, COVID-19 patients were able to receive consistent professional care despite many extraordinary challenges.

Putting His Extensive Clinical Expertise to Work

With many Health Carousel clinical staff and corporate team members on remote assignments, it was necessary to establish COVID-19 safety protocols to protect their health. Not surprisingly, Earl Dalton stepped up to the challenge.

He also worked with the company's leadership team to develop in-office work protocols for "essential employees." Finally, he ensured that sick or quarantined Health Carousel team members were paid appropriately. He also took measures to help Health Carousel employees prioritize their mental health during such a challenging time.   

Earl Dalton's Industry Knowledge and Education Make the Difference

Through Earl Dalton's skilled leadership, Health Carousel's clients have been able to overcome significant workforce development challenges. His intensive knowledge of the travel nurse industry provides an excellent foundation for his efforts. Without his real-world expertise, significant factors may have been overlooked.

Earl Dalton's Master of Health Administration and Master in the Science of Leadership degrees have also helped him to interpret complex scenarios and identify the best solution for each challenge. His unmatched analysis and management skills have  also enabled Health Carousel to realize higher revenues and profits.

Fiercely Supportive of Health Carousel's Nurses

This company leader's nursing background has made him aware of the profession's unique challenges. To illustrate, during the pandemic he learned that frontline caregivers were experiencing high levels of stress and not practicing good self-care.

To address these issues, Dalton teamed with HealthStream to create a Nurse Burnout/Resilience Program. Through his efforts, nurses were better able to focus on self-care rather than coping in unhealthy ways.

Enabling Health Carousel's Enhanced Industry Standing

Because of Earl Dalton's notable contributions, Health Carousel has gained the respect of many leading United States hospitals and health systems. Through articles in respected publications, and speaking engagements in the United States and abroad, he has become a respected thought leader for the nursing industry.

In 2020, Health Carousel received formal recognition from the staffing industry. Specifically, the company was named "Best in Staffing'' relative to client and talent satisfaction. Finally, under Earl Dalton's leadership Health Carousel has become the 9th largest United States health care staffing company. When he began his tenure in 2016, Health Carousel was ranked in 34th place.

Driving Health Carousel's Internal Education Programs

Health Carousel's Chief Nursing Officer Earl Dalton has also played a key role in enhancing clinical staff's knowledge and skills. He engineered a partnership with HealthStream, a major online learning company offering a wide range of nursing programs. Since the program's 2016 inception, about 4,000 nurses have taken over 50,000 HealthStream classes.

Earl Dalton also designed the "Clinical 101 Program" for the company's non-medical employees. Now, administrative staff can better comprehend health care professionals' feedback on a variety of subjects. In fact, this well-received program is now included in Health Carousel's standard onboarding and orientation procedures.

Earl Dalton's "Light the Way" Program Leadership

Earl Dalton's passion for nurse recognition extends beyond Health Carousel's corporate boundaries. As leader of the company's "Light the Way" Program, he partners with the DAISY Foundation to recognize nurses' contributions to communities across the globe. He has specifically recognized nurses' efforts in Ghana and Uganda.

In addition, Dalton learned that most Ugandan nurses are generalists who lack specialty training. In response to this need, he partnered with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (or AACN) and HealthStream. Now, Ugandan nurses are receiving vital critical care training that enables them to care for seriously ill patients.

About Health Carousel

Health Carousel is a rising star in the United States' health care staffing industry. Founded in 2004, this Cincinnati-based company serves hospitals and medical practices throughout the United States. Health Carousel's clients benefit from carefully chosen candidates for permanent, temp-to-perm, and contract assignments.

Finding qualified workers in today's competitive health care marketplace is a complex undertaking. Health Carousel meets that challenge by utilizing the latest recruitment technology and digital methodologies. Equally importantly, the company always adheres to rigorous ethical recruitment standards. In fact, Health Carousel is frequently recognized for its ethical recruitment practices.

Travel Nursing Services

Travel nurses have long been an integral part of health care staffing solutions. When medical facilities experience staffing shortages, skilled travel nurses step in to meet diverse patient care needs.

Health Carousel Travel Nursing (or HCTN) has a finely tuned management structure that enables fast, efficient responses to unplanned staffing needs. Travel nurse candidates often receive short- to mid-duration assignments with multiple starting dates.

Locum Tenens Physician Services

Hospitals and other medical facilities rely on physicians and advanced practitioners to provide high-level patient care. Sometimes, these professionals take time off for personal or professional reasons. When this occurs, the Health Carousel Locum Tenens (or HCLT) Team fills these temporary vacancies with qualified medical professionals.

To accomplish this goal, HCLT recruiters comb their database of physicians and advanced practitioners in every state. Upon each candidate's hire, HCLT team members address all credentialing and assignment onboarding details. Patients benefit from more complete service offerings, faster care turnarounds, and improved health care.

Targeted Workforce Solutions Services

Each hospital or medical practice has specific health care staffing needs. Cookie cutter staffing practices won't provide the tailored solutions clients deserve. Fortunately, Health Carousel Workforce Solutions (or HCWS) can deliver an efficient, cost-effective answer to each workforce solutions challenge.

The HCWS Chief Nursing Officer manages a team of clinical experts who drive each targeted solution. Workforce management specialists put each program in place. Once each solution is operational, the specialists perform beneficial adjustments as needed.

Managed Services Provider Solutions

Health care staffing challenges don't occur in a vacuum. Instead, each one is impacted by multiple factors and constraints. To identify each problem's source, the Health Carousel Managed Services Provider (or MSP) Team uses its multifaceted expertise.

Once the Team has defined the challenge, clinically directed workforce specialists apply technology and industry insights toward a solution. The team implements a targeted staffing plan that will address the core issue.

Once that occurs, the client should have less need for a contingent workforce. Lower expenses, better revenue generation, and higher workforce satisfaction should result. Satisfied workers will likely deliver better patient care.

Health Carousel International

For longer-term health care staffing solutions, Health Carousel International (or HCI) partners with international health care workers seeking to work in United States hospitals or medical practices.

The HCI PassportUSA Program assists credentialed Registered Nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and medical technologists from diverse countries. From start to finish, HCI handles all recruiting and hiring tasks.

After PassportUSA participants begin their United States assignments, HCI clinical team members help to facilitate each worker's professional development. The clinical team also ensures that each individual maintains their professional credentials and/or certifications.

Finally, HCI maintains a commitment to ethics-inspired global nurse recruitment. To that end, HCI takes steps to facilitate originating countries' skilled nurse development programs' longevity.

Health Carousel Earns the "Certified Ethical Recruiter" Designation

Health Carousel has often been recognized for its ethical, sustainable recruitment initiatives. The firm's "Light the Way" Program is a key component of these efforts. To illustrate, Health Carousel is a strong advocate of its nurses' achievement of graduate and postgraduate degrees.

The Alliance for Ethical Recruitment Practices has also named Health Carousel a "Certified Ethical Recruiter." This notable non-profit organization advocates for transparent, fair recruiting of global medical professionals seeking United States health care careers.