AMN Healthcare, OGPI Endorse AcademyHealth's Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Foreign-Educated Nurses

    SAN DIEGO, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- AMN Healthcare, the largest
 healthcare staffing company in the United States, and its international
 division, O'Grady Peyton International (OGPI), today announced AMN's
 endorsement of a Code of Conduct for the recruitment of foreign-educated
 nurses to the United States.
 
     A task force, including AMN and OGPI, along with unions, healthcare
 organizations, educational and licensure bodies developed the "Voluntary
 Code of Ethical Conduct for the Recruitment of Foreign-Educated Nurses."
 The Code aims to ensure that the growing practice of recruiting
 foreign-educated nurses to the United States is done in a responsible and
 transparent manner.
 
     "As a staffing company, we are committed to meeting the needs of our
 clients and healthcare providers," said Marcia Faller, RN, MSN, Chief
 Clinical Officer and Executive Vice President, Operations, for AMN
 Healthcare. "Part of our meeting those needs is successful recruitment from
 around the world. That effort is enhanced with tools like the recruitment
 code that we're endorsing today," she added.
 
     Today, the United States is short about 120,000 nurses and that number
 is rising. Recruitment of foreign-trained nurses helps shrink that number,
 but has not closed the gap.
 
     "There are concerns that a rapid increase in international recruiting
 creates opportunities for unethical behavior," said Patricia Pittman,
 Ph.D., Executive Vice President of AcademyHealth, who convened the task
 force and led a recent study of the structure and practices of the
 U.S.-based international recruitment industry.
 
     The Code of Conduct aims to increase transparency and accountability in
 international recruitment and ensure adequate orientation programs for
 foreign educated nurses. It also provides guidance on ways to ensure
 recruitment is not harmful to the nurses' home countries. The Code is
 voluntary; health care organizations and recruiters that subscribe are
 committing to adhere to a series of practical standards and to emulate best
 practices.
 
     The Code evolved from the recognition that there is no single cause for
 the nursing shortage and that there are diverse solutions to ensure
 supportive, productive work environments for all nurses in the United
 States.
 
     "The nursing workforce shortage is a very real problem and our
 association is working to improve the situation on a number of fronts,"
 says Linda J. Stierle, MSN, RN, CNAA, BC, and CEO of the American Nurses
 Association. "In the meantime, we want to be sure that our colleagues who
 are recruited internationally are treated fairly and are also properly
 educated and trained. That, we believe, is in the interest of all nurses
 and the public we serve. ANA supports this important effort to establish a
 code for international recruitment."
 
     The Code has been endorsed by these and a number of other groups,
 including the American Organization of Nurse Executives, AFT Healthcare,
 the Service Employees International Union, the American Hospital
 Association, the American Association of International Healthcare
 Recruitment, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the American
 Health Care Association, and the National Association for Home Care and
 Hospice.
 
     A copy of the Code of Conduct, list of endorsing organizations and
 background study are available at
 http://www.fairinternationalrecruitment.org. The initial research and
 resulting task force initiative were funded through a grant from the John
 D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation supports
 creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more
 just, verdant, and peaceful world. AcademyHealth, in partnership with the
 O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown
 University, facilitated the consensus-building process.
 
     About AcademyHealth
 
     AcademyHealth is the professional home for health services researchers,
 policy analysts, and practitioners, and a leading, non-partisan resource
 for the best in health research and policy. AcademyHealth promotes
 interaction across the health research and policy arenas by bringing
 together a broad spectrum of players to share their perspectives, learn
 from each other, and strengthen their working relationships.
 
     About AMN Healthcare
 
     AMN Healthcare is the largest healthcare staffing company in the United
 States and the leading nationwide provider in all four of its business
 lines: travel nurse staffing, locum tenens staffing (temporary physician
 staffing), physician permanent placement services and allied staffing. AMN
 Healthcare recruits healthcare professionals both nationally and
 internationally and places them on variable lengths of assignments and in
 permanent positions at acute-care hospitals, physician practice groups and
 other healthcare settings throughout the United States. For more
 information, visit http://www.amnhealthcare.com.
 
 
 

SOURCE AMN Healthcare