Letters to the Editor.

This article contains Letters from the Readears.

The global nursing shortage: an overview of issues and actions.

Today's global nursing shortage is having an adverse impact on health systems around the world. A major initiative by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) yielded important information regarding the shortage and solutions to it. These are organized into five priority areas: policy intervention; macroeconomics and health sector funding; workforce planning and policy, including regulation; positive practice environments; and retention and recruitment (includes migration); and nursing leadership.

Developing a new resource on international nurse migration: the international centre on nurse migration.

A new collaborative project on nurse migration was recently launched by the International Council of Nurses and the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools. This collaboration, the International Centre on Nurse Migration, guided by the principles of ethical recruitment and equitable treatment of migrating nurses, focuses on promoting, collecting, creating, and disseminating data and information on nurse migration; acting as a resource center; tracking trends and patterns of global health care workforce migration; analyzing policy; generating policy options; advocating for sound policy concerning nurse migration; promoting, undertaking, and disseminating research; providing consultant and expert advice; and offering continuing education about migration.