Contact Union

402.486.2600
ucinfo@ucollege.edu

3800 S. 48th St.
Lincoln, NE 68506 USA

Enrollment Services

402.486.2504
enroll@ucollege.edu
Admissions homepage

Alumni/Giving

402.486.2503
alumni@ucollege.edu
Advancement homepage

Personnel directory
×
×

background trapezoid Union College Union College | Finding purpose. Unlocking potential.
Union College – Experience the Spirit

About
  • About Union College
    • About Seventh-day Adventists
    • Accreditation
    • College Symbols
    • Consumer Information
    • Employment
    • Employee Resources (login)
    • Mission and Vision
  • Connect with Union
    • News from Union College
    • Contact Us

  • College Leadership
    • Board of Trustees
    • Employee Directory
  • Lincoln, Nebraska, a great place to learn
    • things to do |
    • places to eat |
    • where to stay


Thumbnail of an illustration of campus. Campus map
  • Google Maps
  • Map with accessibility features
Academics
  • Find majors and programs
  • Academic Support
    • Computer labs
    • Library
    • Records Office
    • Studio for Writing and Speaking
  • Information and resources
    • Academic bulletin
    • Academic calendar
    • Canvas
    • Class schedules
    • Final exam schedules
    • Accommodations and accessibility
    • Graduation information
    • Transcript request
  • Student Success
    • Academic and life coaching
    • Disability information and access
    • Career services
    • Tutoring
  • Professional Excellence Program
  • Adventist Colleges Abroad
Alumni
Stay connected to Union
    • Join us for Homecoming!
      • April 13-16, 2023
    • News from Union College
    • Read CORDmagazine
    • Watch live events
    • Find event photos on Facebook
    • Update your info and share news
    • Read Pastor David Kabanje's daily devotionals
  • Advancement Office
  • Ways to give
    • Give online
    • Planned giving
    • More giving opportunities
  • Request transcripts
    (via Parchment)
  • Explore our history
    • Clocktower archive (1927-2010)
    • Educational Messenger (1905-1926)
    • Library photo collections
Campus Life
  • Student Life Office
    • About the Student Life Office
    • Residence Halls
    • Campus apartments
    • Find clubs on uGroups

  • Athletics
    • Varsity calendar
    • High school tournaments
  • Campus Ministries
    • Upcoming events
    • Good Morning Union
    • International Volunteers and Taskforce
    • Project Impact
    • Watch worship services on uTV
  • Services for campus
    • Campus Health
    • Campus Safety
    • Campus Store
    • Information Systems
    • Integrated Marketing Communications
    • Library
    • Student Employment
    • Plant Services
    • Accessibility Services
    • Union Market
Community
  • Services for our community
    • George Stone Elementary School
    • Guest Services at the Ortner Center
      • Guest rooms
      • Meeting spaces
      • Reservations
    • Union Market Dining Services
  •  
    • Larson Lifestyle Center
      • Become a member
      • Facility rental and parties
      • Swimming lessons
    • Library
      • Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society
  • Events for our community
    • Athletics
      • Athletic calendar
    • Arts and performance calendar
Parents
  • Prospective parent links
    • Why Union students succeed
    • Finding a calling: read examples
    • Financing a Christian education
      • Scholarships and financial aid
      • Tuition
      • Financial FAQ
      • Financial checklist
      • Financial aid forms
      • Contact Student Financial Services
    • Help plan a campus visit
    • Learn about Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Current parent links
    • Services for parents
      • Order a Party Pack
      • Order LifeSavors
      • Make a payment online
    • Events
      • Parents Weekend (Sept. 23-25, 2022)
      • Graduation (May 5-7, 2023)
      • Watch uTV
      • See photos on Facebook
Thumbnail of the Boones. Watch: parents share how Union helped their daughter find her calling.
Thumbnail of Pastor Rich Carlson. Watch: the 5 biggest decisions in life.
Prospective Students
  • Admissions Office
    • Apply online
    • Union's guarantee
    • Plan your campus visit

  • Financial information
    • Scholarships
    • Grants and loans
    • Costs
    • Financial FAQ
    • Net price calculator
    • Financial aid forms
    • Student Financial Services
  • Learn more about Union
    • Academic and life coaching
    • Residence Halls
    • See our majors and programs
    • Interactive campus map
    • Follow us on Instagram

  • Checklists
    • After you're accepted
    • Financial clearance
    • International students
    • Transfer students
Thumbnail of Mary with play button. Union inspired Mary to excel in nursing and gain spiritual confidence.
Thumbnail of Joslyn with a play button. When a letter arrived from a little Nebraska college, Joslyn heard God calling.
September 30, 2022

Caleb Wehling: choosing a career in healthcare

Although nursing student Caleb Wehling loves his major now, he didn’t always want to become a nurse. With a nurse and an anesthesiologist for parents, the junior from Kearney, Nebraska decided to forge his own path in computer science. But something was missing.

“I thought I was going to play on computers, write code and stuff like that, even though I’m way too active to be sitting at a desk,” he said. “My dad asked me if I wanted to come to his job and see what doctors and nurses do. I went and realized this was the career I wanted. Medical technology is the bleeding edge of innovation, and getting to work with those innovations as well as getting to work with my hands is the best of both worlds.”

Wehling fell in love with nursing and its combination of technological innovation and hands-on caring. When he came to Union, he couldn’t wait to study both — in clinical settings as well as in Union’s Nursing Simulation Center.

Union’s nursing students complete more than 925 clinical hours by the time they graduate. Students get to experience nursing in all of the major hospital systems around the city of Lincoln. Under the supervision of a nurse, students assess patients, assist them with basic needs and administer medications. “Injections are the best,” said Wehling. “Drawing up medications, injecting them, even giving IV medications — it’s all fun to me.”

“In clinicals, you finally get to do all this fun stuff that your professors talk about in the classroom and show on lecture slides. It’s really cool to see the direct connection between what you learn in class and what you see the same week on the floor.”

While clinicals take place under direct supervision, Union nursing students prepare to take on the full range of nursing work independently in Union’s Nursing Simulation Center. Wehling said, “Sim lab is awesome because it is the closest you can get to being a nurse without being one. Everything you learn in clinical and class all comes together in the simulation center.”

The Simulation Center is outfitted with high-tech patient simulators that not only look like people, but also mimic bodily functions such as pulse, pupil reactions, breathing, speech and reactions to medicine. With multiple rooms and patient simulators, the simulation center is set up to emulate a real hospital floor. Students learn to work as a team to provide care to multiple patients at once. Instructors observe the students from a control room, so the students learn to provide care to a patient independently.

Wehling appreciates the independence the Nursing Simulation Center technology provides.

“The simulation center really feels like a hospital floor,” he said. “There’s a medication dispensing machines, patient charts and accurate rooms with equipment in each one. All the responsibility comes down to you: you get to administer medications, do the problem solving, and call the “physician.” It’s very intense, but it’s the best practice you can get.”

After drilling their skills in the Simulation Center, students debrief with their instructors. Wehling considers Union’s professors to be one of the best parts of the nursing program. “I don’t have one professor who feels disconnected,” he said. “They’re engaged with us every semester, and they really want us to pass these classes. Our professors are always asking us what they can do to improve their classes and help us succeed.”

When he graduates, Wehling wants to work in a Lincoln ICU before becoming a nurse anesthetist. Even though he’s looking forward to his first shift on the floor alone, he’s enjoying being a nursing student. “I’ve never been so excited about topics or willing to learn before,” he said. “The nursing program is hard, but it’s so much fun. I wouldn’t choose anything else.”

By Annika Cambigue, a junior English and communication major from Ohio

Media contact

Ryan Teller
Director of Public Relations
402.486.2600 ext. 2272
ryan.teller@ucollege.edu

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

 

Footer – About/Contact

Union College

... is an accredited, Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning in Lincoln, Nebraska since 1891.

  • Learn about Union
  • Consumer Information
  • Employment
  • Website privacy policy

Contact us

ucinfo@ucollege.edu | 402.486.2600
3800 South 48th Street
Lincoln, Nebraska 68506 USA

Footer – Campus systems

Personnel Directory

Employee directory and biographies.

Directories

Employees | Students (login required)

Portal

Register for classes, see grades, make a payment and more.

Canvas

Participate in classes, online.

Footer – Campus systems 2

Library

Access resources and find your study spot.

Calendars

Events | Academic and Class Schedule.

uGroups

Connect and communicate with campus.

Good Morning Union

A devotional thought for every school day.

Footer – Column 4

 

Apply

$

Affordability

Academic Programs

 

Get directions

Ranked top tier by US News
 
News ...
  • News from Union College
  • Building community and competency: welcome back, Noah!
  • The Enemy’s Child
  • Union closed due to weather — Wednesday, January 18, 2023
  • Internship takes student home and to a new level of ministry
  • Giving students an edge in medical school applications
  • Union students leapt to action in mid-air medical emergency
  • First-year Union student named a Daniels Scholar
  • IRR program receives grant for rescue equipment
  • Construction walk-through
  • Acrofest 2022 highlight reel
  • A Heart for the unhoused
  • How to be the perfect leader
  • Home
  • About Union College
  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • Advancement Office
  • Campus Ministries
  • Campus Services
  • Services for Parents
  • Student Life
  • Student Success