Butler County Community College registered nursing student Marissa Marsh will receive one of two inaugural Health Care Student of the Year awards from the Butler County Health Care Consortium on Thursday.

Marsh, 27, of Herman, who also as a certified nursing assistant, will be among 20 health care employees, volunteers and students to be honored during the second Health Care Worker Recognition event at the Atrium in Prospect.

Taylor Keith, a student in Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School's health assistant program, also will receive a Health Care Student of the Year Award.

The honor reflects the goal of the 30 health-care employers who are members of the consortium, and the group's resource partners, to establish a means to identify those who, among other criteria, exemplify excellence in providing care, said Mary Salony, secretary of the consortium and assistant director of the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board in Butler.

“The Health Care Student of the Year award recognizes that employers appreciate people going into the field. It also shows that you are the top in your program. And certainly in the job search, it does not hurt to have an award or an honor,” Salony said.

Marsh enrolled in BC3's associate of applied science degree program in registered nursing after earning a bachelor of science degree in an unrelated field in 2013 at a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education institution. She works at Concordia Lutheran Ministries' assisted living facility in Cabot.

“This is really an honor,” Marsh said.

As liaison between her class of BC3's registered nursing students and the program's faculty and the dean of the college's nursing and allied health division, Marsh solicits suggestions from her classmates, often using online surveys, about how to improve students' experiences in classes, labs and clinical experiences, said Patty Annear, dean of nursing and allied health.

Marsh spends two days a week in clinical practice at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights as part BC3's program.

“She is a very professional woman, very conscientious about her studies and serious about the profession. And she puts 100 percent into everything that she does,” Annear said.

Following her graduation from BC3 on May 15, the former Westmoreland County resident intends to pursue a position in wound care or in critical care, or as a flight nurse in Butler County, where, Marsh says, job opportunities in her field “are immense.”

“You can go anywhere,” Marsh said. “You can go anywhere and work for anyone and do everything, regardless if it is pediatrics or geriatrics. There are ample opportunities.”