The DAISY Foundation and the Society of Internationally Educated Nurses in North America (SIENNA) announced today an extraordinary partnership to recognize internationally educated nurses (IENs) practicing all around the world delivering compassionate care to patients and their families. The DAISY Foundation will collaborate with SIENNA to honor IENs wherever they practice their profession and whatever stage of their career they are in. Both organizations believe that there is an alignment and meaningful synergy between DAISY’s and SIENNA’s missions to recognize compassionate and exceptional nurses. This initiative will benefit the nursing profession overall, cognizant of the important role that IENs play in our society.

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To date, over 2.5 million nurses globally have been nominated by their patients, families, and colleagues, and over 210,00 nurses have received The DAISY Award®. The DAISY Foundation’s flagship award, The DAISY Award, honors direct care nurses who provide compassionate care for patients and their families. As the foundation has grown, additional recognition programs have been added to recognize and honor nurses throughout their nursing journey, including awards for Nursing Faculty, Students, Teams, Leaders, Nurses Advancing Health Equity and most recently The DAISY Award for Nursing Ethics in Practice and Leadership was introduced to shine a light on the ethical way nurses lead and practice in alignment with the ANA Code of Nursing Ethics.

“Being an internationally educated nurse is not as easy as it sounds if one considers the hurdles IENs have to go through as well as sacrifices they have to make in order to practice their profession outside of their country of education. Most IENs have to leave their families and loved ones behind often to seek better opportunities and, in doing so, bring with them their unique talents, knowledge, and varied experiences, significantly shaping our healthcare system and improving the patient care experience,” said Jasper Erwin Tolarba, DNP, RN, CGNC, CNE, FACHE, FAAN, Founding President of SIENNA. “This partnership celebrates and recognizes the remarkable contributions of our diverse nursing workforce worldwide and highlights the role IENs play in safeguarding global health, especially during critical times such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.”

“DAISY is delighted to partner with the Society of Internationally Educated Nurses in North America (SIENNA), an organization dedicated to advocating, supporting, and creating a community for nurses,” said Deb Zimmermann DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Chief Executive Officer of The DAISY Foundation. “Together, DAISY and SIENNA will shine a light on the profound impact of nurses on the communities they serve and the difference they make in the lives of their patients.”

With this new partnership, The DAISY Foundation and SIENNA will be recognizing internationally educated nurses not only for possessing these already exceptional values but also for IENs who provide support and guidance to newly arrived IENs in their country of destination to ensure successful assimilation and adjustment to their new environment and workplace. There is no doubt that meaningful recognition such as the DAISY Awards contributes to higher nurse satisfaction and subsequent retention and improves the patient and family experience.

About The DAISY Foundation™

The DAISY Foundation is a non-profit organization serving the nursing profession through recognition programs as well as grants for nursing research and evidence-based practice. The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 in memory of the extraordinary nursing care provided to J. Patrick Barnes during his eight-week hospitalization for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an auto-immune disease. His family’s drive to say “thank you” to nurses for the compassionate and skillful care they provide daily has evolved to play a strategic role in healthcare organizations by providing unique, meaningful, and impactful recognition that benefits nurses and their work organizations.

About the Society of Internationally Educated Nurses in North America (SIENNA)

SIENNA is a non-profit, immigration-neutral professional association dedicated to supporting all internationally educated nurses who migrated or planning to migrate to North America (USA, Canada, and beyond) to ensure that they have a community of network, advocates, and resources throughout their journey. SIENNA aims to create a close-knit network and support system for all IENs through quality continuing education, acculturation, and diversity/equity/inclusion initiatives regardless of their race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, or country of origin.

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