Dr. Franklin A. Shaffer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, Inc., an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration, and licensure of nurses and healthcare professionals worldwide. Dr. Shaffer earned his doctorate in nursing administration and education at Columbia University and has 50 years of progressive and varied nursing experience which includes administration, education, clinical practice, and research. He is a frequent speaker and consultant at meetings and conferences around the world and is an NGO representative at the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Council of Nurses (ICN).
Dr. Shaffer serves as the Secretariat of the International Centre on Nurse Migration (ICNM), a strategic partnership between ICN and CGFNS International. ICNM occupies a key role in establishing effective global and national migration policy and practice that facilitates safe, quality, and accessible patient care and positive practice environments for nurse migrants. He is the former Deputy Director of the National League for Nursing, the accreditation organization for nursing education. Dr. Shaffer made the business case for The Joint Commission (TJC) to develop a certification for the healthcare staffing industry, an initiative that has since grown to include over 400 healthcare staffing firms.
Throughout his career, Dr. Shaffer has authored eight books and over 200 publications. He also serves on several leading professional journals and editorial boards, and most recently was selected as Chair of the International Advisory Board of the American Journal of Nursing. Recently, he was appointed Visiting Scholar at Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy and the University of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Tirana, Albania, and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Dr. Shaffer is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.