For the third consecutive year, AL DÍA will be hosting its annual AL DÍA Top Nurses Forum & Awards event.

This annual event will be a celebration of the Hispanic men and women in the healthcare profession who have served the community, especially during the more than year-long pandemic. 

According to the National Council of State Boards of Nurses, 8.3% of nurses in the U.S. are currently of Latino descent. This is just roughly half of the overall Latino population across the nation. 

The pandemic has made the demand for bilingual and bicultural nurses stronger than ever before.

As a way to help promote the critical and exemplary contributions Hispanic nurses make to this essential field, AL DÍA will be featuring a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, in addition to a selection of nominees as chosen by the public, of exceptional men and women who are excelling in the profession during the event.

The nominee categories are health system practice (nurses who primarily work within hospital systems as direct care providers), leadership (nurses who have demonstrated leadership in research, academic, or practice setting), community practice (nurses who primarily practice in community-based settings), and emerging leader (a nursing student). 

An advisory board, chaired by Dr. Antonia M. Villarruel, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, will make the final selection of honorees. She is one of the few Latina nursing deans in the country, and the only Latina dean at an Ivy League school. 

Dr. Villarruel was recently announced as the newest chair of the National Academy of Medicine’s Culture of Health program. Founded in 2015, the program works to identify strategies to create and sustain good equitable health solutions across the nation.

In additon, next month Dr. Villarruel will officially receive the Ohtli Award — the highest honor given by Mexico’s government to individuals and organizations that support the Mexican diaspora.

The 2021 AL DÍA Top Nurses Forum will take place Wednesday, May 26 starting at 5:30pm. 

May is National Nurse Month, when the American Nurses Association takes the time to celebrate the nursing profession and elevate the practitioners serving in healthcare institutions nationwide.

Nominations are now open to the public and will remain open until May 9 at 11:59pm. To submit a nomination for the upcoming event, click here.