Three-day program helps students understand the commitment it takes to become a nurse.
COLUMBIA, KY. (08/20/2025) Lindsey Wilson University student Madilyn Schultz was a little nervous about starting her nursing major this fall.
But after participating in the nursing program’s boot camp, Schultz said her nerves were put to rest.
“I feel prepared because they were so organized and laid it all out for us,” said Schultz, who is from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. “So I’m not nervous anymore.”
Schultz was one of 27 members of Lindsey Wilson’s new nursing cohort — one of the largest nursing cohorts Lindsey Wilson has admitted — that participated in the three-day boot camp.
The program — which is held a week before fall classes begin on Aug. 25 — helps students understand what the next three years of their Lindsey Wilson careers will involve before they get to the starting line.
“Nursing is a very hard, challenging and demanding field to go into, but it’s also very rewarding,” said Lindsey Wilson Director of Nursing Dr. Emiley Button. “I think it’s a calling to become a nurse, so we want our students to make sure this is what they want to do before the first day of classes. This also gives them the time and opportunity to change majors if they realize that nursing is not what they expected it to be.”
Nursing student Ahalia Ramirez of Philpot, Kentucky, is among those students who understands the challenges of becoming a nurse. But she also knows the rewards by watching her mother, Ashley, serve as a nurse.
“I know it’s going to be hard, but I think I can do it after going through the boot camp,” said Ramirez.
The origins
Nursing boot camp was initiated five years ago, after Button and her fellow nursing faculty noticed that some first-year students in the bachelor of science program were a little tentative.
“When some of the students started their foundations course they didn’t always fully understand the commitment they were making, and some of them were also a little nervous about things, like touching patients,” said Button. “We felt that a boot camp, held before the start of their first semester as a nursing student, would give them more confidence and get them acclimated to the faculty and the environment.”
On their first day of boot camp, students are fitted for their white coats and uniforms, and they learn about test-taking strategies for nursing classes. Members of this year’s cohort were the first to receive the new Lindsey Wilson University nursing patch.
Boot camp’s second and third days are spent reviewing skills that students developed in their certified nursing assistant course.
“It was basically a refresh of last semester’s CNA (certified nursing assistant) course,” said Ramirez. “I feel like it all came back into my head once we got into it.”
100% pass rate
Judging by the results of the first nursing boot camp class that graduated from Lindsey Wilson, the program has been a success. The Class of 2024 was the first four-year class to attend boot camp, and its students posted a 100% pass rate when they sat for 2024 National Council Licensure Examination, the nationwide examination for the licensing of nurses in the United States.
Button won’t know the results of the Class of 2025 until next spring, but she says she has a good feeling about that class’ pass rate on what is often called the NCLEX.
Student Jess Sutherland of Martinsburg, West Virginia, said the boot camp also gave him a clear idea about what to anticipate over the next six semesters at Lindsey Wilson.
“Nursing boot camp helped me re-evaluate myself and see where I am before we get into the clinical field,” said Sutherland. “It helped me understand the standards and how much work you have to put into it, but it also made me mellow out after seeing who my peers are and who is going to be teaching me.”
Button said that peers often play a big role in a nursing student’s success.
“The bonding that takes place between students in the program is very important, and the boot camp is designed to begin that process as well,” said Button. “It’s very important that nursing students develop a strong sense of camaraderie because they will need one another to get through the program. It’s very important that nursing students bond so that they can lean on one another.”
That’s a big part of what student Jaden Latiola of Radcliff, Kentucky, said he took away from boot camp, which made him ready for the start of classes on Aug. 25.
“Boot camp was a really nice introduction to all of my nursing classmates, what’s going to go on here for the next three years and how it’s going to lay out,” he said.
One of the three groups of Lindsey Wilson University nursing boot camp students are joined by faculty after receiving their nursing patches, the first Lindsey Wilson University nursing patches, on Tuesday morning in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center. Lindsey Wilson’s new nursing cohort has 27 members, one of the largest the university has admitted. Students pictured, alphabetically: Ethan Butler of Mason, Ohio; Haylee Curry of Greensburg, Ky.; Florencia Haupt-Piraino of Santiago, Chile; Jaden Latiola of Radcliff, Ky.; Emily Morrow of Somerset, Ky.; Ahalia Ramirez of Philpot, Ky.; Madilyn Schultz of Elizabethtown, Ky.; and Jess Sutherland of Martinsburg, W.Va. Faculty members pictured, alphabetically: Dr. Emiley Button, Tamara Coots ’13, Kellie Mann ’14, Jacey Matthews ’13, Dr. Susan Vickous and Lindsay Wheat. Not pictured: student Lauren Barrett of Glasgow, Ky.
Lindsey Wilson University nursing student Jaden Latiola of Radcliff, Kentucky, reviews materials during nursing boot camp on Tuesday morning in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center.
Lindsey Wilson University nursing student Madilyn Schultz of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, observes nursing professor Dr. Susan Vickous during nursing boot camp on Tuesday morning in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)