Founder of the Nevada RNformation honored with Lifetime Achievement Award: Introducing Gloria Castillo - In her Own Words

Nevada RNformation, Aug 2004 by Castillo, Gloria

Biography

As a first generation American born to Basque parents on a ranch in Ely, I didn't speak English until I started school. My education began in a one room school house that was to serve me for the next eight years. After graduation from White Pine High School, I left my small town roots to attend nursing school in Los Angeles County during World War II. Because of the acute nursing shortage caused by the war, we were already covering the floors during our sophomore year. I am celebrating my 60th year in nursing. As a certified emergency nurse, I have worked I nearly every aspect of hospital nursing including the operating room, ICU, recovery, medical services, surgical services, ER, outpatient clinics and home care.

I have held offices and committee memberships in both the Nevada and California Nurses Associations and was the founder of the Nevada Association's newsletter, RNformation. I've been active in the National Operating Room Nurses, the Reno Business and Professional Women's Association, and the local Toastmaster's club. It has been a great honor to have received a number of awards over the years including the President's Award from the Nevada Nurses Association, Nurse of the Year of Northern Nevada from the March of Dimes, and the highest local honor by the central office of the Veteran's Administrations called the Heart and Hands Award.

Outstanding Achievement in Lifetime Achievement in Nursing

Early in my career in understood that patients would benefit if nurses became better advocates for themselves and their profession. My first big opportunity in this area came in the 1950s when I was selected to. chair the program for the National Operating Room Nurses Association's second annual convention. Because the organization's national office was located in the east, I was instructed to use only eastern speakers, primarily physicians, because there was no one in the west who was qualified. I challenged that opinion and scheduled only speakers from the west, including nurses who spoke side by side with the surgeons - a clear demonstration that nursing was as important as surgical skills.

Other opportunities to advocate for nursing have come through my active participation in the Nevada Nurses Association legislative committee, the one I have always felt was the most important. I've appeared before public bodies to testify, contacted lawmakers, and have worked extensively with the issues facing the nursing profession. With that in mind, I felt these issues should be communicated to nurses throughout the area, so I founded the Nevada Nurses Association newsletter, Reformation. In the beginning, with the help of my co-workers, we produced the newsletter in my home and distributed it. The publication is now professionally produced, but it continues with the original mission for which it was formed by serving s a valuable tool for conveying nursing news to all nurses licensed in Nevada.

In the 1960s, I was fortunate to co-chair with Dr. William O'Brien a joint committee of the Nevada Nurses Medical associations. We established the first statewide polio vaccination program, which I helped to administer. We put the vaccine in sugar cubes and gave to children and adults throughout the state. Because of the suffering I'd seen in patients on iron lungs, I was enormously proud to have been part of the movement to eradicate polio in this country.

I have been involved in many aspects of hospital nursing, including supervision, but my real love has always been caring for patients. Today, much of my time is spent teaching patients and students about ostomy care. As a result, it's been my observation that these patients often have difficulty absorbing their medications, so I've launched a clinical study in cooperation with a pharmacy resident to look at the absorption of medications in people with fast transient ileostomies. The information we receive will be invaluable in teaching both physicians and nurses.

Nursing Role Model

I've listed in the question above a number of situations in which I believe I have been a positive role model for nursing. But that isn't all there is. I feel I've been able to model for students and co-workers with my ability to listen to patients and to clearly communicate with them. In my teaching, I encourage students to look at the total patient, not just his or her parts. I want them to learn to fully "see" their patients when they enter a room and check for things like memory and functional ability, and I work to convey the importance of helping patients understand their conditions and answer their questions. My patients have been kind in telling me they welcome my genuine smile and caring attitude, saying they feel this is an important part of healing. I've been appreciative of notes I've received from my peers on occasion complimenting the way I interact with patients and indicating I had served as a role model to them. Even physicians have often expressed respect for my nursing ability.