The DAYO Program Components:
PRE-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
POST-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
POST-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
This FREE and self-paced, online learning experience equips participants with essential information about U.S. clinical & cultural expectations, providing them with resources needed to thrive, even prior to U.S. departure.
POST-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
POST-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
POST-ARRIVAL Early Engagement
An in-person celebration of the nurses' arrival, this welcome event fosters meaningful connections and integration into the bigger nursing community through a professional nursing organization, immediately upon U.S. arrival.
The Project Partners:
PNASA Inc.
Powerhouse America
Powerhouse America
The Philippine Nurses Association of San Antonio (PNASA) is a non-profit professional organization that unites and empowers Filipino-American nurses through leadership development, cultural integration, and community service. As a chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA), it promotes excellence in practice while fostering advocacy and lifelong learning.
Powerhouse America
Powerhouse America
Powerhouse America
Powerhouse America LLC is a U.S.-based direct-hire nurse recruitment agency founded in 2016 to support the success of Filipino nurse professionals migrating to the United States. It bridges opportunity gaps through scholarships, integration programs, and community-based initiatives that empower nurses and promote long-term professional growth.
Why DAYO Program Matters?
An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 IENs are deployed to the United States annually, with many entering high-demand clinical settings such as critical care, medical-surgical units, and long-term care facilities. While these nurses bring strong clinical expertise from their home country, many face significant challenges adapting to their new healthcare environment, including unfamiliar electronic health record systems, patient-centered care models, legal frameworks, cultural expectations, and confidently advocate for themselves.
While many U.S. hospitals actively recruit IENs, particularly in urban and underserved areas facing staffing shortages, only a limited number offer onboarding programs specifically tailored to the unique needs of IENs. This lack of specialized support can contribute to challenges such as role confusion, underperformance, cultural adjustment difficulties, isolation, and higher turnover rates. Typical hospital onboarding often emphasizes organizational policies, clinical protocols, and technical systems. Still, it frequently overlooks critical areas like cultural communication styles, workplace etiquette, inter-professional relationships, early US nursing career planning and the psychological aspects of adapting to a new healthcare setting.
This program was created to bridge this gap. It augments traditional onboarding by addressing the unspoken realities of transition, offering clinically and culturally responsive guidance through an asynchronous online course and a culminating welcome reception. Topics often missing from employer-led orientation, such as navigating subtle workplace biases, professional self-advocacy, and adapting to U.S. nurse-patient interactions, are discussed constructively. Through DAYO, IENs gain both competence and confidence, while also building early connections to local nurse mentors and professional communities. This ensures they are not only equipped to succeed but truly welcomed and empowered to thrive from the start.