The International Council of Nurses, an organization of more than 130 national nurses associations, is warning about some high-income countries recruiting nurses from vulnerable countries with critical health worker shortages.
"Despite shared ethical codes and calls to curb this practice, aggressive nurse recruitment is growing, with clear evidence of harmful impacts exacerbating deep-seated health inequalities worldwide," the International Council of Nurses said in a June 20 news release.
The organization represents 28 million nurses worldwide, according to its website. The organization called on world leaders who are part of G20, an intergovernmental forum, to make nurse migration and this recruiting issue a priority at their November meeting.
ICN President Pamela Cipriano, PhD, is advocating for a temporary freeze on recruiting nurses from countries with severe nursing shortages and fragile health systems. At the same time, the American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment is asking Congress to safeguard unused green cards for nurses as the industry worries about a potential nurse visa freeze.
The ICN did not name which high-income countries are engaging in unethical recruitment practices, but the organization called these strategies "unsustainable" and a "short-sighted solution."