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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
A Path Through Post-War Times, Finance, and Academia
Some people discover their calling early on. Marcella M. Rutherford, M.B.A., M.S.N., Ph.D., spent her teenage years working in her father’s drug store and volunteering as a Candy Striper at the hospital. She realized that she was suited for the hospital environment and for helping others the day that she walked into the room of an amputee patient.
“I remember it very vividly. I went in to help an older man who had an amputation. The sheet was pulled up and his stump was just sitting there. And I remember that it didn’t really bother me. I just wanted to help him.”
Since then, Rutherford’s nursing career has taken three distinct paths. The first saw her working as a trauma life-flight team surgical nurse, during the time right after the Vietnam War. After a long stint as a surgical nurse, she completed her MBA and was offered a position in the finance department of a South Florida hospital. In this role, she oversaw budgets, cost accounting, and reimbursements, analyzed data in patient care plans, and made projections for efficiencies. After a decade in finance, her love of nursing eventually brought her to academia.
“I felt that nurses needed to have better, sounder education in the business aspect of health care,” said Rutherford.
Today, serving as dean of the Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing, Rutherford works hard to ensure that students are receiving the best education possible. “Our students get about 30 percent more clinical hours in our nursing program than in any other program. There is a noticeable difference in new graduates of NSU. They have a higher level of confidence and competence because they’ve had that greater exposure of time dealing with their patients, their families, and other members of the care team.”
In honor of her father, who was a pharmacist, Rutherford created the James H. Kuebler Nursing Changing Lives Scholarship. The scholarship provides support for NSU’s nursing students. Rutherford said, “If [students] are in the program, and we selected them for the program, then I want to be able to help them if they get into a financial situation. By giving, I am able to personally help these students.”