the extensive experience and database available to the authors through CGFNS International files and research studies.

The paper is based on published international literature in the field; documents from CGFNS International files; research studies; trends in the nursing labor market, including globalization and demographic changes; increased use of complex technologies; and the authors’ personal observations and participation in relevant national and international conferences and meetings on the subject.

The authors are responsible for the content of the paper.

Barbara L. Nichols, D.H.L., M.S., R.N., FAAN, is the Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International (Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools), which is an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration, and licensure of nurses and health care professionals worldwide. Ms. Nichols served as professor of nursing at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing and director of nursing for the Wisconsin Area Health Education Center System. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is a member of their Conformity Assessment Policy Committee. She held a cabinet position in Wisconsin State Government, is a former International Council of Nurses (ICN) Board Member and a past President of the American Nurses Association. As Secretary of the Department of Regulation and Licensing for the state of Wisconsin, she was responsible for 17 Boards that regulated 59 occupations and professions. Ms. Nichols is the author of over 70 publications on nursing and health care delivery, including her most recent contribution as a Guest Editor, “Policy, Politics and Nursing Practice,” in the August 2006 edition of Building Global Alliances III: The Impact of Global Nurse Migration on Health Service Delivery. She was a Lieutenant in the United Sates Navy Nurse Corps. Among other accolades, Ms. Nichols was a 2006 Inaugural Inductee into the National Black Nurses Association Institute of Excellence; was named the 2007 Distinguished Scholar, Howard University College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Division of Nursing; in 2009 received Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Drexel University; and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Catherine R. Davis, Ph.D., R.N., is the Director of Global Research and Test Administration for CGFNS International. Dr. Davis provides senior leadership for CGFNS test development activities, research initiatives, and related publications. Prior to joining CGFNS International, Dr. Davis was Associate Professor of Nursing at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. She holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from Adelphi University and a Master’s degree in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the National Editorial Advisory Board of Advance for Nurses and as a manuscript