Wallace State Nursing hosts annual Let’s Pretend Hospital

Hanceville, Ala. — Wallace State Community College’s Department of Nursing Education welcomed more than 1,000 first-graders to its facilities this week for the annual Let’s Pretend Hospital. Designed to both ease children’s fears about hospital visits and teach healthy habits, the event also provides Wallace State nursing students with hands-on experience working with pediatric populations.

Upon arrival, the first-graders are greeted by superheroes and princesses and begin a tour of eight interactive stations—most of which end with a lively dance party. The Mario Room, where students help save Princess Peach from Bowser, is a crowd favorite, said Pamela Tidmore, a fourth-semester nursing student, Let’s Pretend Hospital ambassador and president of the Spring 2026 cohort.

“We’ve got an obstacle course set up; the kids are loving that,” she said. “We’ve got an Operation room, we’re actually performing ‘pretend’ surgery. We’ve got a fire truck and bouncy house out here so they can get an idea of what to do in case their family were to ever have a house fire. So, we’ve got a lot of great activities that are not only fun, but they’re also educational for the kids as well.”

Wallace State Nursing students perform "surgery" on a student attending Let's Pretend Hospital.

Fellow nursing student and Let’s Pretend Hospital ambassador Amanda Parker emphasized Let’s Pretend Hospital helps reduce children’s anxiety about medical environments.

“We have a wonderful opportunity to kind of suppress some fears that children may have when they come in,” she said. “It’s a less intimidating environment. It’s fun, it’s inviting, and it’s an opportunity to educate students who might have a fear of surgery, or the ER or anything hospital related.”

And she said she could see the change from the time the students arrive to when they leave.

“We see them coming off the buses and their wondering, ‘Oh what’s going on, I don’t know about this,’” Parkers said. “But once they get through our wonderful LPH courses and by the time they are leaving they are jumping up and down and they are remembering some of the rooms they have had the chance to experience and have fun in. From the Mario Room, to Frozen, OR, ER, we have something for each of these students and they are absolutely leaving here just absolutely excited and full of spirit.”

Tidmore added that the event helps nursing students develop therapeutic communication skills with children, enhancing their ability to educate and interact with pediatric patients.

“It actually gives a lot of experience with therapeutic communication with these children, just kind of showing them around the room, educating them on what they’re learning, what we’re doing,” she said. “And it helps us get familiar with how to treat the pediatric population, also.”

Wallace State Nursing students portray the Cat in the Hat and The Grinch in the Emergency Room of Let's Pretend Hospital and let a student hear his heartbeat. 

Nursing Instructor Heather Ashley said the event fosters leadership and collaboration among students.

“It helps by giving our nursing students leadership abilities by taking initiative to guide the younger first-grade students through all these stations and they are leaders by building their rooms and making them creative for a first-graders creative imagination,” she said.

They also help each other as mentors, Ashley added.

“We bring all the students together from first semester all the way to the end. So that gives them a chance to mentor each other,” she said. “Our first semester students can talk to our last semester to get guidance on new ways to study and things like that, and the get to see the leadership skills.”

Wallace State’s Department of Nursing has been designated as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the National League for Nursing. The program offers numerous pathways for both associate and bachelor’s degrees, with day, evening and hybrid classes and locations in Hanceville and Oneonta.

For more information about the Wallace State Nursing program, visit www.wallacestate.edu/nursing, call  256.352.8199 or email nursingapplicant@wallacestate.edu. Applications will be accepted starting March 15 for Fall 2026 entry and July 1 for Spring 2027.

Registration is underway for the Spring 2026 semester, with classes beginning Jan. 7 for regular and Mini Term I and March 5 for Mini Term II courses. Visit www.wallacestate.edu for more information or call 256.352.8236 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 Rising Star 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.