Nursing Dean a Health Care Hall of Famer

Congratulations are in order for College of Nursing Dean Butch de Castro, the latest inductee into the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame by the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA).

“Being selected for the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame surpasses anything I would have ever dreamed of with respect to my career,” says de Castro, PhD, MSN/MPH, RN, FAAN. “Knowing, admiring and respecting a number of prior inductees, I am deeply humbled by the thought that my endeavors and pursuits compare to theirs and be deserving of the same esteem.”

In addition to Dean de Castro, College of Nursing Professor Emerita Katherine Camacho Carr, PhD, ARNP, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, will also be inducted in the ceremony on March 21. Camacho Carr became one of the first Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) in Washington in 1977. As a professor she educated hundreds of nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery graduate students and has advocated for the advancement of nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner practice.

Established in 1996, the WSNA Hall of Fame “recognizes trailblazing nurses at the pinnacle of excellence—those who have transformed the practice, research, educational opportunities and governing policies of nursing” in Washington state.

Dean de Castro, who serves on the King County Board of Health, utilizes community engagement approaches in his research and teaching from a health equity and social determinants framework. He says that to be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Camacho Carr speaks to the scholarly excellence and high professional standards across the college and specifically to Camacho Carr’s advancements in the nurse-midwifery field. 

Says de Castro, “Dr. Camacho Carr has made tremendous contributions to nursing through her dedication to educating and mentoring many Seattle University nursing students, launching our college’s nurse-midwifery program and advancing nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner practice locally and globally.”

The induction into the nursing Hall of Fame further inspires de Castro “to work more determinedly on behalf of nurses and the populations they serve throughout Washington state and beyond.

“I deeply appreciate the Washington State Nurses Association Board of Directors and the selection committee for their efforts to recognize how nurses make lasting impact on health and health care.”  

Read on for more on Dean de Castro.