For the second year in a row, a Cedar Crest College student has been selected to receive a prestigious nursing award from Lehigh Valley Health Network. Officials with LVHN have announced that Chelsea Lombardi will receive the John M. Eisenberg, M.D. Award for Excellence as a Student Nurse at the Friends of Nursing Celebration on May 3 in Bethlehem.

Lombardi, of Effort, is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Cedar Crest College, and is on track to complete the program in the summer of 2019. After graduation, she plans to continue her education and become a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

Lombardi said she had initially considered a career in the U.S. Air Force, but was drawn to the field of nursing after giving birth to her son.

“I just remember the nurses I had the opportunity to meet during delivery, and I wanted to be able to help people like they helped me,” Lombardi said. “That experience made me want to care for others and put smiles on as many faces as I could.”

Students in nursing programs across the Lehigh Valley were considered for the Student Nurse Award, but Lombardi was notified in February that she had been selected as the winner. She said she was thrilled when she received the news.

“It felt amazing,” she said. “It is so rewarding to know that others see the effort and time I put into my studies and my clinical work.”

Lombardi was nominated for the award by Cedar Crest College nursing instructors Christine Batchelor and Sandra Axt. Her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the nursing faculty.