Nurses are the backbone of our health care system. From lending an empathetic ear to administering medications to sitting with us when it feels like the world is falling down around us, they are there—making us feel human while seeming superhuman themselves. The nurses within these pages are the ones you nominated for their lasting influence, and they are truly the champions of our West Virginia centers of care. Read their stories, discover what inspires them, and be inspired yourself.

Mackenzie Casto

RN CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital Specialty: Labor and delivery nursing

Just over a year into her nursing career, Mackenzie Casto has no doubts that she’s chosen the right path. As a nurse in the labor and delivery department of CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital, Casto lives for the precious little moments she shares with new parents and their babies. “Their eyes just completely light up and melt with happiness whenever they get to see their baby for the first time,” she says.

Casto was an athlete as a teenager and knew she wanted to play soccer in college, an aspiration she credits with keeping her keenly motivated to pursue higher education. As for why she chose to attend nursing school specifically, Casto says she doesn’t have the personal connection many in the field do—a journey with a sick relative or an experience with a nurse after a childhood injury, for example. She’s simply always been the nurturing type. “I just always had a desire for caring for people, and specifically, the pediatric population is what drew my attention,” she says. Now, helping people with pregnancies ranging from routine to difficult—and, for some, the first pregnancy after a previous loss—Casto is in a perfect spot to care for children and adults alike in some of their most vulnerable moments.

She doesn’t see herself leaving the labor hall anytime soon and is excited to continue gaining experience and inching closer to what the more senior nurses on her team are capable of. “I cannot wait for the day that I have five years of experience, or 10 years of experience, or 20 years of experience like these nurses I work beside,” she says. “I’ve always been eager to learn. You learn something new every single day when you’re a nurse. There’s hardly ever the same situation or same scenarios.”

READ ABOUT OTHER 2024 CHAMPIONS OF CARE