A Loyola University doctoral student, Daniela DeFrino already has nearly two decades of nursing experience. Prior to entering Loyola University's Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, she held multiple roles within the field. Daniela DeFrino not only handled direct patient care but also served as a clinical educator and instructor. Having earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Johns Hopkins University in 1993, Daniela DeFrino began working as a staff nurse at Chicago's Northwestern Medical Center that same year.

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Working at Northwestern Medical Center throughout the 1990s, she served as the Assistant Nurse Recruiter and a consultant for Italian health care professionals. DeFrino also spent almost four years as the Nursing Development Coordinator at Northwestern, a position requiring her to develop continuing education and professional development programs for nurses. In addition to leading the hospital's APN group, she oversaw the Chapman Nurse Scholar Program.

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In 1998, Daniela DeFrino earned a Master of Science degree after completing the Family Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Around this time, she spent a year working as a Clinical Nurse Educator at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. While there, she was recognized for her outstanding work with 1999's Nurse of the Year Award. After briefly working as a nursing clinical instructor, DeFrino spent three years as an editorial assistant at UIC. She entered Loyola University's doctoral nursing program in 2007.