At the 2021 AL DÍA Top Nurses Forum & Awards virtual event, we will aim to shine a light on some of the notable nurses and healthcare professionals in the region.

After a month-long nomination period that saw AL DÍA receive a total of 64 nominations, the advisory board for the event sorted through all the nominations and selected 12 as honorees for this year's event.  

The honorees are split between four categories: academic practice, community practice, health systems practice and emerging leader.

In the days leading up to the May 26 event, AL DÍA will be releasing the names of the honorees by category. The honorees for the academic practice category can be found here; the honorees for the health systems practice category can be found here; and the honorees for the community practice category can be found here. 

Here are the honorees for the AL DIA Top Nurses award in the category of emerging leaders.

Nursing Student at Penn Nursing; President of Penn Nursing Minorities in Nursing Organization at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Melina Lopez is a junior nursing student at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. At Penn Nursing, Lopez is very much involved, as she is the President of the Minorities in Nursing Organization, and a member of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc. In addition to those roles, Lopez is also a student worker in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Penn Nursing. 

Nursing Student at West Chester University; Pediatric Nursing Assistant at Chester County Hospital

Susy Suarez is a nursing student at West Chester University. In addition to that, Suarez works as a pediatric nursing assistant at Chester County Hospital. 

Nursing Student at Rutgers University - Camden; Critical Care Technician at Cooper University Health Care

Silvia Tenezaca is a senior nursing student at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ.  In October 2020, she joined Cooper University Health Care as a critical care technician. Prior roles include her being a home health aide at Home to Stay, and a certified home health aide at CareFinders Total Care and Homewatch CareGivers. 

Tenezaca earned her associate of science degree in pre-nursing studies from Camden County College.