Wallace State Nursing Holds Annual Let’s Pretend Hospital

Hanceville, AL — Wallace State Community College’s Department of Nursing Education welcomed the first of more than 1,000 students to its annual Let’s Pretend Hospital on Tuesday morning when groups of first graders converged on the School of Nursing and Center for Science.

More than a half dozen current Wallace State Nursing students have come full circle with Let’s Pretend Hospital, as they attended the event as first graders. Wallace State Nursing held its first Let’s Pretend Hospital in 2008 and has held one every year since, except during the pandemic in 2020.

Wallace State Nursing student Destiny Anders attaches a paper bracelet to student visiting the Let’s Pretend Hospital on Tuesday. Anders, of Fairview, attended Let’s Pretend Hospital as a first-grader and is participating in her second Let’s Pretend Hospital as a student.

For fourth-semester Nursing student Destiny Anders of Fairview, this is her third time participating in Let’s Pretend Hospital. She’s twice participated as a student at Wallace State, but her first time was as a first grader.

As a nursing student, Anders said she loves the interaction with the children.

“All the kids, they just get so excited,” she said. “It was great just getting to be around the kiddos; I really did enjoy it.”

Anders said she is leaning towards pediatrics as her specialty, so getting to be around younger children is helpful.

Last year, Anders worked in the nutrition room. This year she was part of the welcoming committee.

“We’re going to be taking them around to each room and getting to stay with each group instead of only getting to be with them a little bit, so I like that,” she said.

Students who come to Let’s Pretend Hospital rotate between eight different stations, but first they are welcomed by a group of superheroes and Disney princesses and other students like Anders, who put a paper bracelet around their wrists.

The rooms the students visit are focused on various subjects regarding health and safety and experiences within the medical realm. Each room is themed to engage the students in activities held in them.

Students line up to help defeat Bowser in the Super Mario Brothers-themed exercise room at Let’s Pretend Hospital.

The exercise room has a Super Mario Brothers theme, complete with Princess Peach who is need of rescue from Bowser. Students complete a maze where they practice balance, throwing and more in order complete their task and save Princess Peach.

The Health and Safety room has a Minecraft theme and takes students to different stations that teach them about fire safety, the importance of wearing seat belts, drug safety and more.

Students listen to Thing 1 and Thing 2 as they learn about the Emergency Room during Wallace State Department of Nursing Education’s Let’s Pretend Hospital.

Other rooms include an X-Ray room featuring characters from Frozen, the Jungle Room where they learn what happens if they have to stay overnight in the hospital, an emergency room where they help the Grinch feel better, an operating room with an Operation game theme, and the germ room where they learn the importance of washing their hands. The students also get to visit with staff from the Hanceville Fire and Rescue.

Anders said she remembers learning how to stop, drop and roll and about seat belt safety when she was a first grader. She said she hopes the student going through Let’s Pretend Hospital this week will take at least one lesson with them that will help them in the future.

First graders enter the Operating Room in the School of Nursing at Center for Science as part of their visit to Let’s Pretend Hospital.

According to Good Hope Elementary first-grade teacher Deidra Wix, the students do take the lessons back with them. The teachers give the students lessons in subjects such as fire safety and community health before the visit to Wallace State and follow up afterward.

“When we get back, we like to journal about it and talk about some of their favorite things and things that they’ve learned,” said Wix, who has been a teacher for 10 years.

“They love the germs,” Wix added of one of the favorite rooms students visit. “That’s very big at school; we always talk about germs. But when they come here and see it under the black light and see like they are everywhere, and we don’t realize it. I think the germ room is always a big hit.”

Let’s Pretend Hospital will continue through Thursday, with students from Cullman County, Cullman City and several private schools scheduled to attend.

Wallace State’s Department of Nursing Education has twice been designated as a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing. The program accepts students each fall and spring, with applications accepted March 1-May 15 for fall entry and July 1-Oct. 1 for spring entry.

The program offers a traditional pathway that offers a certificate in practical nursing in three semesters and an associate degree in nursing in five semesters. The traditional option includes evening classes at the main campus in Hanceville and hybrid classes at the Oneonta Instructional site for the PN certificate. There are also joint enrollment opportunities with UAB and Athens State University that allow students to concurrently complete both an associate degree and bachelor’s degree. Mobility options are also available for health professionals with certain certifications who wish to become a nurse.

For more information about the Wallace State Nursing program, visit www.wallacestate.edu/nursing, call 256.352.8199 or email nursingapplicant@wallacestate.edu.

Registration for the Spring 2025 semester is currently underway, with classes beginning Jan. 8, 2025, for Regular and Mini Term I. Mini Term II will begin March 6. Registration and classes begin for online Flex Start Courses Jan. 14-21 for Flex Start I and Jan. 22-29 for Flex Start II.

For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu, call 256.352.8000 or email lioncentral@wallacestate.edu.

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.

Students line up to help defeat Bowser in the Super Mario Brothers-themed exercise room at Let’s Pretend Hospital.

The Grinch and Wallace State Nursing students wave goodbye to students attending Let’s Pretend Hospital.

Wallace State Nursing help first graders learn that medicine is not candy.

Wallace State Nursing students share with first graders the importance of wearing flotation devices.

First graders do the limbo as they leave the Jungle Room, where they learned about staying overnight in the hospital.