WVU Hospitals Nurse Honor Guard

Mission
The mission of the WVU Hospitals Nurse Honor Guard is to (upon request) pay tribute to nurses at their career milestones, retirement, and/or memorial upon time of their death. This will be accomplished by performing the Nightingale Tribute and/or the Last Call of Duty as applicable. The Last Call of Duty ceremony officially releases the nurse from their nursing duties.

Vision
The vision of the WVUH Hospitals Nurse Honor Guard is to recognize nursing colleagues who have dedicated their lives to the profession of nursing. Active and retired nurses who have worked at WVU Hospitals volunteer their time to honor the professional community of nursing.

Goals
The goals of the WVUH Hospitals Nurse Honor Guard are to provide dignity and respect in recognition to our fellow colleague at career milestones, retirement, and/or time of their passing and provide honor and comfort to their family and friends in respect of their loved one.

Our Team
The WVU Hospitals Nurse Honor Guard is made up of dedicated active and retired WVU Hospitals nursing professionals who volunteer their time to honor the professional community of nursing. We have more than 10 volunteer members who help cover Morgantown, WV and surrounding areas.

If you would like more information, send an email to [email protected].

How the Service Works:

• In Memory or End-of-Life
  • The Nightingale Tribute
  • Our Services (no charge to the family)
    • The Nightingale Tribute is a five-minute ceremony performed free of charge by a nursing colleague during the deceased nurse’s funeral service. The tribute consists of reciting the Nightingale Tribute and laying a white rose on the casket or next to the urn symbolizing the nurse’s dedication to the profession.
    • After the Nightingale Tribute is recited, a chime is rung after a roll call for our colleague. The nurse’s name is called three times, and the chime is rung after each call of the nurse’s name. After the final roll call, it is announced the nurse is officially released from nursing duties.
    • A lit Nightingale Lamp is carried up at the beginning of the ceremony and is then extinguished and presented to the family. The tribute offers fellow nurses an opportunity to commemorate and recognize their colleague’s work while honoring that nurse’s unique contribution and dedication to the nursing profession.

The Nightingale Lamp
The lamp was used by Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War when she was taking care of the injured soldiers at Scutari Hospital in Turkey in 1854. The lamp was a Turkish lamp which is known still to this day as the Nightingale Lamp. The Nightingale Lamp ceremony dates to the late 1860s at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing in England. Each graduate nurse was presented with the lighting of the lamp to symbolize their entrance into the profession of nursing. It is extinguished at the end of their nursing journey.

The White Rose
The white rose is a symbol of nursing. It represents respect, reverence, unity, and new beginnings. Each honored nurse is given a white rose during each tribute. Depending upon the type of tribute, the rose is laid in or on the casket, in front of a picture and/or urn, or given directly to the nurse for a living tribute. Before the white rose ceremony, we invite family members who are nurses, and any nurses in attendance, to stand and honor the nurse being recognized until the end of the ceremony (this includes the white rose ceremony, final roll call for duty, and extinguishing of the lamp.)

The Nightingale Tribute
This special tribute is performed by all Nurse Honor Guards as a focus of each tribute. It is adapted for different types of ceremonies. It explains our motto that nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living. This tribute is a special way to honor the fallen nurse by reading the following: “Nurses here today honor this nurse and his/her life as a nurse. This nurse is not remembered for his/her years as a nurse but for the difference he/she made during those years by stepping into people’s lives at special moments.” The poem, “He/She Was There” by Duane Jaeger, MSN, RN provides an accurate account of what the life of a nurse is like.

Final Roll Call for Duty
This is performed similar to how police and firefighters call their colleague’s final roll call for duty. After the white rose is laid at the conclusion of the white rose ceremony, we say the nurse’s first name three times and ring a triangle in between each call of the nurse’s name. When the nurse does not answer the three calls for duty, we say the nurse’s full name and title, and we officially release the nurse from earthly nursing duties and thank them for their service in the nursing profession. We then announce that we will take over from here. Once this is completed the lamp is extinguished and presented to the family.

The Uniform
The Nurse Honor Guard attends the service in the traditional white uniform complete with nursing cap and cape. The cape, with its high collar, was worn in the field for warmth. The lining signaled they were medical personnel to prevent getting caught in the fighting.