COVID-19 has led to an unusual collaboration between the Wisconsin National Guard and Madison College.  

Late last semester, Dr. Lisa Marie Greenwood, Associate Professor of Nursing at Madison College, received an email from the Wisconsin Department of Human Services proposing a large-scale task. Greenwood was asked if Madison College could train between 80 and 120 Wisconsin National Guardsmen to work as nursing aids. Greenwood replied simply, “How can we help?” 

“We sharpened our pencils and got to work,” continued Greenwood.  

The National Guard has been charged with an urgent if not unusual mission. Guardsmen have been and will be trained as nursing aids to be deployed across Wisconsin to work in long-term care facilities.  

Hospital beds are full, said Greenwood. This creates a bottleneck of care. Hospitals want to discharge patients that still need care. By staffing long term care facilities, they will be able to accommodate more patients in need of care. 

“There’s a lot of moving parts,” said Greenwood.  

“As cases of Omicron continue to surge, this support is critical for supporting Wisconsin’s nursing homes,” said DHS Secretary designee Karen Timberlake in a press release.  

Guardsman came to Madison College and participated in an emergency nurse aid training program. This program emulates Madison College’s digital certificate nurse aid training program, though the guardsmen did not receive college credit. Still, they were put through their paces.  

Guardsmen learned basic skills including communication, understanding resident rights, safety and infection control. These are all skills necessary in Wisconsin before a student can lay hands on a patient.

 The guardsmen then moved to the Truax nursing skills lab where they participated in Supervised Practical Training.  

They practiced on each other, said Greenwood. “It’s one thing to brush your own teeth, it’s completely different to safely brush someone else’s teeth.”  

They fed each other. They gave each other bed baths. Guardsmen did what they needed to obtain skills to support long-term care facilities.  

Despite this intense attention to the National Guard, no resources have been diverted away from Madison College students. No sections have been canceled.  

“The Wisconsin National Guard has been heavily engaged in the battle against COVID-19 since day one of this pandemic,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp. “We see ourselves as neighbors helping neighbors, and when we say that we mean it.” 

The guardsmen and Madison College faculty were absolutely amazing to work with, said Greenwood. They were diligent, organized and collaborative. They embraced this as a mission, rolled up their sleeves and got to work.  

“We’re doing it again,” said Greenwood. The next flight of guardsmen will be arriving Feb. 9 and graduating 10 days later.