The Alliance was established in 2008 to oversee a voluntary code of ethics developed by stakeholders across the healthcare sector seeking to establish common ground in defining fair and transparent recruitment practices. Two years after the launch of the Alliance Health Care Code, the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel was created, utilizing the Alliance’s Code as an example.
CGFNS International, Inc., acquired the Alliance in 2014. On September 18, 2017, the Alliance launched the new “Health Care Code for Ethical International Recruitment and Employment Practices” which has since been adopted by recruitment firms representing thousands of employees. In 2019, the Philippines Nurses Association of America incorporated the Alliance Code into its Code of Ethics.
In March of 2023, the 4th edition of the Code was released, following one year of review to ensure that its principles and provisions remain relevant and timely in addressing ethical concerns in a time of expanding international recruitment.
In addition to overseeing the Code, the Alliance has been active in developing research on recruitment and the nurse experience. This includes a comprehensive assessment of the State of Foreign Educated Health Professional Recruitment conducted by the Alliance and CGFNS International, published in the January 2020 edition of the American Journal of Nursing, and a 2021 study published in Nurse Leader, highlighting the critical health care work provided by foreign-educated health professionals during the pandemic.