A nurse graduate from Southwestern Michigan College (SMC) has spent more than four decades in the health care field. Rick VanTuyl, 64, is a nurse anesthetist for Henry Ford Health and helps patients with pain relief and anesthesia delivery.
VanTuyl grew up in Dowagiac and graduated from Union High School in 1977. He earned an associate degree in nursing from SMC in 1980. He is the only man of five who made it to the finish line, according to the college.
“I didn’t make the basketball team my junior year, so I got a job in the kitchen at Schato (pronounced Chateau),” VanTuyl said. “I loved working with those people. Once I turned 17, I became an orderly. Bottom line, I was really good at it. It was ’78 and I’d done a year at SMC, but I had no thoughts of anesthesia at that point, even though nurse anesthetists have been around longer than anesthesiologists, which takes M.D. or D.O. training. They’re doctors first. Nurse anesthetist is now a Ph. D. program. I don’t have a (doctorate), I have a master’s in nurse anesthesia in 1995 from University of Detroit Mercy, as well as a 1991 bachelor’s degree in nursing from Oakland University.”
VanTuyl loved being a cardiac intensive care nurse. He worked the midnight shift.
“I decided to go to anesthesia school to be able to put my kids through school and to afford Red Wings season tickets. It wasn’t a noble cause,” he said. “By the time I was done, we had Tigers and Lions season tickets, too. It was a great bonding experience with my daughters going to all the games.”
VanTuyl is at the pinnacle of his profession as a nurse anesthetist, SMC stated. He has worked for Henry Ford Health since 2002. Henry Ford, established in 1915, is headquartered in Detroit and has more than 30,000 employees and six hospitals.
CRNAs are specialized nurses trained in pain relief and anesthesia delivery. They decide on patient care plans independently or alongside other medical professionals. As advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), CRNAs have the highest level of nursing education.
Becoming a CRNA takes seven to 10 years, including clinical experience working as an RN in an ICU or a critical care department. Beginning in 2022, aspiring CRNAs could plan on spending two to three years to complete the required DNP or DNAP degree after earning their BSN and RN license.
VanTuyl lives in Brownstown Charter Township, Wayne County, with his wife, Laura. She is a respiratory therapist. He has two daughters, two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
