Honor, Recognize & Release

The Yellowstone County Nurse Honor Guard honors fallen nurses

By all accounts, 65-year-old Jim Jones was a lover of life, a guy who was a straight shooter and an emergency department charge nurse who brought much-needed levity to the job. In his younger days, he served in the military and was sent to Germany to care for the wounded during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He was known for being a calm presence in the midst of chaos.

When he was laid to rest last December after a battle with cancer, his funeral was standing room only. In the back sat nine nurses ready to honor him. Dressed in white, with navy capes and traditional nurses’ caps, the women were a part of the newly formed Yellowstone County Nurses Honor Guard. It’s a tribute designed to celebrate the care and healing a nurse provided during his or her life.

“It is a heartfelt thank you to the nurse for his/her years of service and the difference that he/she made in the lives of others,” says Leslie Small, who started this group. She’s been a nurse at the Billings Clinic for more than 42 years.

Leslie first learned of the Nurse Honor Guard a few years ago after her college roommate and dear friend showed her a video of a memorial service in Havre, Montana, that used what is known as the Nightingale Tribute, named for Florence Nightingale.

“I was very touched by the message and felt that this is an offering that needed to be given,” Leslie says.

It wasn’t long before she touched base with Havre’s Honor Guard and learned they were one of three such guards in the state.

“I sincerely believed that in Billings, where two of our state’s largest hospitals are the center of our health system, we should have a Nurse Honor Guard,” she says. It wasn’t long before she called the organization’s national founder in Michigan and then ordered the materials — the nurses capes, hats, musical triangle, a white scrub outfit and the Nightingale lamp — to provide this symbolic and touching service.

“As it happened, one of our own shining nurse stars passed away, far too soon, in her dedicated life to the nursing profession,” Leslie says. With a service planned at the Billings Clinic, she says, it seemed like the perfect time to launch the Nightingale Tribute. “This nurse was a very talented and dedicated educator at Billings Clinic, teaching literally thousands of critical care nurses to be the best at what they do. She deserved this tribute.”

Today, there are roughly 100 Nurse Honor Guards across the U.S. There are four in Montana with Honor Guards in Havre, Great Falls, the Flathead Valley and Billings.

Today, there are 14 nurses in Yellowstone County who volunteer their time to serve at fallen nurses’ funerals. If you ask any one of them, they will tell you it’s their gift to someone who dedicated his or her life to caring for others.

“I think it is one of the biggest honors of my whole nursing career — just the wording of the tribute and what it means to the family and the people attending,” says nurse and Honor Guard member Joanna Church. “It brings a tear to everyone’s eyes.”

“It shows our colleagues how much we care about each other. It’s a way to lift up the profession of nursing,” says Anna Ammons, one of the nurses in the Honor Guard.

During Jim’s service, nurse Carol Keenan read the Nightingale Tribute.

“We are here to pay tribute to Jim for his life spent in the nursing profession. Nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living,” she shared with those gathered, half of them nurses themselves. “Jim was there in the excitement and miracle of birth and in the mystery and loss of life. Jim was there when a silent glance could uplift a patient, family member or friend.”

As a white rose was laid on his flag-draped casket symbolizing his dedication, one of his fellow nurses handed his wife, Holly, the Nightingale Lamp, symbolizing the light and hope he brought to his patients.

Nurse Maricela Nelson struck the musical triangle as Carol read Jim’s name.

“Jim, we officially release you of your nursing duties. Your shift is over.”

The Honor Guard is hoping funeral homes begin offering this service to any nurse who is being laid to rest. Right now, the group operates primarily through word of mouth. So far, they’ve performed this ceremony at a handful of funerals.

“The reaction from families has been tremendous,” Leslie says. “They are very grateful for us acknowledging what they have seen in their loved one throughout their lives.”

For nurse Vicki Hert, the ceremony is an exclamation point on a nursing career well lived.

“You are in the middle of people’s intimate lives,” Vicki says. “It’s such an honor to be a nurse.”

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in requesting this ceremony, please contact Leslie Small, (406) 861-1394.

THE NIGHTINGALE TRIBUTE

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern Nursing, trained nurses during the Crimean War in 1856, and organized care for wounded soldiers. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards. She was known as the “Lady with the Lamp” as she made rounds on the soldiers each night.