Nurses honor guard forms in area
Dec. 19—A local organization is looking for more members to help honor the lives of nurses.
When a nurse dies, members of the Otsego-Schoharie-Delaware Nurses Honor Guard are available to perform a Nightingale Tribute at the nurse's funeral.
The tribute lasts between five and 10 minutes during the funeral service, Elisabeth Martinez Tissiere, RN, president of the Otsego-Schoharie-Delaware Nurses Honor Guard, said. The service includes a tribute to the nurse and the family and a final roll call. The family is given a white rose to signify the devotion to the service on nursing and a Nightingale lamp, which signifies the knowledge, comfort and courage a nurse has. The lamp is lit at the beginning of the service and extinguished at the end of the service. The nurses are dressed in traditional white uniforms with a cap and navy blue and red cape.
"We aren't just honoring the nurse, we're honoring the whole family," she said. "When we do this tribute, we are also honoring the sacrifices the whole family makes. The years of training, holidays spent away from each other, soccer games missed. We all understand and appreciate what the family did."
The honor guard will perform the free ceremony at a Registered Nurse (RN), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) funeral, a brochure said.
The Nurses Honor Guard began in 2003 in Kansas by the Kansas State Nurses Association and has expended to 250 chapters throughout the country. There are 20 chapters in New York, and the local chapter came about after Martinez Tissiere saw a ceremony performed in Albany. She said she liked the group's Facebook page and joined the Mohawk Valley chapter. The state chapter is based out of Syracuse and the head of that chapter mentioned she wanted to start one in Cooperstown area. Martinez Tissiere, a maternity nurse at Bassett Medical Center, and said she would start a local chapter.
In addition to Martinez Tissiere, the executive board of the organization is another maternity nurse Jennifer Garlock-Stringer, vice president; Jan Calhoun, secretary, and surgical nurse in Cobleskill Brandy Reed, treasurer and tribute coordinator, she said. The organization has sent brochures about the ceremony to the funeral homes in the area and Reed reads local obituaries and contacts funeral homes when she sees a nurse has died to offer the honor guard's services to the family.
Since forming in July, the group has performed the ceremony at six funerals, mostly in Delaware County and a couple in Oneonta, Martinez Tissiere said. The group will perform its first one in Schoharie County this Friday. Between six and seven nurses conduct the ceremony.
"There's real pride in what we do," she said. "It's a real privilege to let that family honor the profession their loved one had."
The chapter has grown to 220 members and of those between 10 and 20 are actively attending funerals. There are many supporting members, which is important in a profession that has seen real change since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know as nurses our profession is vital to providing care to people," she said. "We may not bee seen, but we keep people safe. In many respects, it's a thankless job. If we're able to honor each other, it means a lot."
The group is seeking more members, especially younger nurses, and is working with local colleges to recruit members, she said. Current and retired nurses living in the three counties are eligible to become members. For more information, visit the group's Facebook page, https://tinyurl.com/ywkvn56h.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.
