UK nursing students, faculty, help Kentucky Girl Scouts earn first aid badge

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2026) — The Girl Scout motto is “Be prepared.” Last weekend, University of Kentucky College of Nursing faculty and students helped scouts in Kentucky’s Wilderness Road Council work toward this goal and build their badge collections while learning essential first aid and safety skills.

The event included more than 20 second- and third-grade Brownies from multiple troops across Kentucky. They worked to earn their first-aid badges, practicing how to call for help, build a first-aid kit and treat minor injuries, including outdoor injuries.

The Undergraduate Nursing Activities and Advisory Council, or UNAAC, a student-led organization, organized and hosted the event. Professors Janine Barnett and Megan Walden serve as faculty coordinators, providing guidance and support to the student group throughout the planning and execution of the event.

UNAAC is an election-based organization for the College of Nursing where students serve as a liaison between the college’s dean and students. Among their representative responsibilities the members also plan and coordinate student social and service events for both the college and community.

Walden said the nursing students look forward to hosting this event year after year, and many of the older students recruit younger students to participate.

“It’s chaotic in the best way. You can hear the screaming and laughing in all the rooms. I love it,” Walden said.

The Girl Scouts rotated through stations where nursing students taught them about sunburn safety, bug bites, germs and proper hand washing. At one station, they participated in a simulation to practice their newly learned nursing skills.

After the rotations, the scouts gathered for a brief awards ceremony where the nursing students presented each of the participants with a certificate to mark the end of their first aid training. The moment gave the scouts a chance to reflect on what they learned — and celebrate their achievements — before heading home with first aid kits they built.

For many of the Girl Scouts, there was a consensus: a nursing career is in their future.

“I want to be a nurse and a lawyer,” one of the scouts said.

Barnett said almost all the scouts had a different favorite activity, but many of them lit up when playing with “Millie the Mannikin,” where they learned about heart rate and pulse on the College of Nursing’s high-fidelity simulation mannikin. 

While the Girl Scouts were learning new skills, the experience was just as meaningful for the nursing students leading the stations.

Barnett believes that by facilitating hands-on learning for the scouts, the nursing students also strengthened their own fundamental skills.

She noted that practicing these skills helps children and her students respond naturally in real-life situations.

“The nursing students are realizing that learning can be fun and playful, and they’re learning how to care for different ages, how to teach different ages and how to engage with different patients,” Barnett said.

This is true for Keri Carr, UNAAC cohort president for the Fall class of 2027, who is interested in pursuing a career in emergency medicine, where she will work with both pediatric and adult patients.

Carr said much of her early nursing education focused on working with geriatric patients, making the opportunity to teach Girl Scouts especially meaningful. Having grown up without extensive first aid knowledge herself, Carr said the event allows her to “shine a light” for other children.

“I love being with kids. It’s so nice to help them and give them a little insight into what we’re doing,” Carr said.