A Conversation with MSU College of Nursing Dean Randy Rasch

“The basics are pretty much the same, but I think one of the things that's happened in the pandemic is that more people are much more aware of what nursing is about.” Rasch says in response to Beekman’s opening question about how nursing has evolved and what the profession’s future looks like. “When people hear nursing, what they hear or what they visualize is what they see nurses doing, like getting patients' medications, baths, and all of those things while you're in the hospital. People are beginning to hear more about what nurses have to know and how they have to think.“I would say that what's going to happen is that the outpatient part of the job outside of hospitals is going to grow. Probably most of our listeners have had family members or they themselves have been in the hospital and they've been there a couple of days and then they're released. Years ago, you would have been there a week or so and had an opportunity to really get prepared to be released.“Where we're moving now for nurses is really to be able to say this patient, as far as nursing is concerned, isn't ready to go. Or if you're getting ready to send them home, we need to be connecting to make sure that nursing care is provided at home so that they and their family members know what to do and can provide that care as well. And that has an impact on patients, of course, because who wants to turn around and get readmitted to the hospital, right? So the outcomes are a big piece. What people don't realize is that if you return to the hospital within a certain amount of time, it's big money because the hospital loses money and they're penalized for it.”Rasch encourages all of us to get our covid vaccine and debunks myths about the dangers of vaccines. And he gets emotional when talking about what inspired him to become a nurse.“Get immunized yourself for your own personal protection, but covid is a public health issue. You also get immunized so that your fellow citizens and residents of this country are also protected.”MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM and AM 870 and streams at WKAR.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.