2024 Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame — Q&A with Butch de Castro

What was your first job after nursing school?

I started out as an operating room nurse. It was completely counter to what I eventually dedicated my career to in the public health arena. Patients were under anesthesia, hence noncommunicative, and while the anatomy and technical procedures amazed me, the focus was on human organs, not human beings. That didn’t last long, as the work environment did not match my personal style or how I wanted to make a positive difference. I eventually found my way into a public health nursing job, and working outside of hospital walls felt way more natural to me.

What was it like working as a public health nurse?

I got up close and personal with individuals’ and families’ lives in their own real-world contexts and circumstances. This gave me true insight into how societal structures can disadvantage groups of people based on their social identities and threaten their health and well-being.

What are some career highlights?

In graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, I discovered the field of occupational and environmental health and learned how hazardous working conditions increase risk for illness, injury, and even death. Working in the national office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., the highest level of government to create policies for safe and healthy work environments, was incredibly meaningful to me. I got to work on issues like preventing exposures to bloodborne pathogens via needlesticks and respiratory illnesses from airborne bacteria and viruses for all workers nationally.

What has driven you to excel?

My mother came to the U.S. as part of a wave of nurses recruited from the Philippines in the 1960s to fill nursing shortages. I think about the courage and determination she and all those nurses had to leave their family and homeland for a world they knew little, if not nothing, about. The commitment and hardship endured to make a better life for themselves and loved ones inspire me not to take for granted any opportunity and to strive to exceed expectations when given a chance. I so appreciate and honor the sacrifices and leap of faith that my mother and all those nurses made, which enabled me to pursue the things I did.

How would you describe your impact on the field?

My research examining how employment and working conditions contribute to poor health among immigrants and populations of color have helped shed light on how marginalization of identity —like race, ethnicity, and nativity—persists to cause disproportionate burden of illness and injury. To then have research findings influence advocacy and policy efforts for real changes that protect and promote health is what motivates me.

If you had a magic wand, how would you fix things?

A world in which equity is truly espoused and practiced in our society, where we recognize that each person, group, household, neighborhood, and community has unique needs. I would like to see resources allocated and distributed in ways that match needs so that all people can achieve equal outcomes.

What is your vision for nursing?

That the nursing workforce mirrors the demographic profile of the population served. I am also hopeful that the nursing profession can be more focused upstream and dedicate more attention to shaping society in ways that promote health and prevent disease.

It heartens me to see how the Future of Nursing report 2020-2030 emphasizes the need to attend to population health and health equity. I am confident that nursing will respond to that call.

Note: The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity is a consensus study from the National Academy of Medicine.

What is your advice for young nurses?

Keep an open mind and pay attention to opportunities put in front of you. Nursing has so many different professional roles and career paths that one can pursue. Know that you don’t have to stick with just one type of nursing, and don’t be reticent to explore.

What’s next for you?

After 17 rewarding years on faculty at the University of Washington School of Nursing, I recently became dean at Seattle University’s College of Nursing. This is a wonderful opportunity that I am just getting settled into. I am so excited about what this role has in store for me. I feel so fortunate to be able to lead such a distinguished nursing program and group of faculty and staff thoroughly committed to social justice into its next era, with the goals of having a more prominent presence on the health sciences education and research landscape locally, regionally, and beyond.