The lecture hall darkens as a familiar spooky tune is piped over the loudspeaker:

“Beware … you have entered The Call Light Zone.”

The audience erupts into laughter. The short “Twilight Zone” vignette features a nursing student dreaming about struggling with an ornery patient who constantly hits his hospital room “call” light button—with hilarious sound effects.

In another room, students sit in a circle and throw a ball of string to one another while introducing themselves and their reasons for wanting to become a nurse. After creating a giant string web they’ll work as a team to get a balloon to stop dead center in the “web.”

It’s day three of Georgia Perimeter College’s Nurse Boot Camp, and the short, student-produced play and string game are both designed to relieve tension—and set the stage for the serious business these students will soon encounter: learning the ins and outs of patient care.

Begun in 2010 by nursing professors Jeanette Crawford and Dr. Becky Craig, the boot camp isn’t the kind where push-ups or sprints are required. But the camp’s mission definitely seeks to help students prepare for the mental intensity of the next two years.

“Boot camp is one of the first student retention strategy implemented by the department of nursing faculty,” says Dr. Joann Smith, GPC’s nursing director. “It is an opportunity for students, family and faculty to interact with a common goal in mind: the success of the student.”

To date, a total of seven boot camps have been held, with more than 500 nursing students voluntarily participating. Each year students report how helpful the program was, and many ask to volunteer at the next year’s camp to help orient the newest nursing students.

Getting the perspective of students already “in the trenches” is valuable for the camp participants. Yolanda Pavilich, a second-year nursing student, was one on hand to guide the new students through the boot camp. She recalls her own first-year experience as a nursing student.

“Boot camp really helped me … I had no idea what to expect, and so I was less nervous and more prepared when I entered the program.”

 During the three-day camp, students are given insight on study strategies, time management, professional caring and use of resources, financial assistance and many other topics. Family members also are invited to get a look into “the day in the life a nursing student” and are offered tips on how to support the student.

Making sure family members understand the rigors of the program is key, says Smith. Typically, class work, homework and clinical rotations will consume a nursing student’s life, so it’s important to get family support early in the process, she explains.

Crawford says family members can help students by assisting with things like babysitting, preparing meals and volunteering help both personally and financially.