As Ruth Benjamin was getting ready to retire after more than 50 years in nursing, two of her colleagues passed away.
Benjamin, who was director of health management and research for Heritage Christian Services for 34 years, was away for one of their services, which devastated her.
Nursing is a calling and a way of life, Benjamin said by way of explanation, and many like her and her colleague gave everything they had to their profession.
"How many people can say they get up every morning, put their feet on the floor for a job they love?" Benjamin said. "That was me."
And that was the same for her colleagues, so there had to be some way of recognizing the people who spent their lives helping people.
After some research, Benjamin founded the Finger
Lakes Nurse Honor Guard, which celebrates its third anniversary in October. The all-volunteer honor guard ensures that late nurses are recognized, in a similar way that honor guards pay tribute to late military or first responders.
"It not only reminds of the value of nurses, but the value of that nurse," Benjamin said. "Our ceremony is recognizing a nurse's life and their long service, their compassion, their dedication to the nursing profession. That's really what it's all about."
Paying tribute to late nurses in the Finger Lakes
Here's how it works.
If the family of a late nurse is interested, the Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard will recognize the nurse respectfully, and in a dignified fashion with a Nightingale Tribute, which pays homage to Florence Nightingale, the 1800s nurse who was known for care of solders during wartime.
The service is free.
The honor guard nurses will don traditional attire: Caps, blue capes with red lining, white uniforms and white shoes.
Depending on the family's wishes, they will visit a funeral home or place of worship; sometimes they're asked to attend a gravesite service. They also have spent time with nurses in hospice care to offer living tributes as well as support in their time of need.
Sometimes, they will stand silent vigil at a casket, or they can serve as honorary pallbearers.
In addition to demonstrating how valued the life of the nurse was, their hope is also to ease the grief of their family, loved ones and colleagues.
An important part of the nursing job for Mary Kate Corey, who comes from a family of nurses and worked in various roles in nursing at F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua before coming to Rochester to help lead a clinic, is end-of-life care.
That goes for many of the late nurses, too, who made a difference in the lives of so many of the people they cared for during their careers.
"For me, just honoring people at the end of life is so important," Corey said. "How we support each other is important to me."
A moving way to honor nurses in the Finger Lakes
As part of their tribute to the deceased nurse, honor guard volunteers will place a white rose, which symbolizes the service the nurse has given while alive, on the casket or near an urn. The Finger Lakes chapter also does the same with a blue carnation, which stands for peace and serenity.
They will give readings that sometimes may include reciting the nurse's biography.
As part of the nurse's final call, the light from a lamp or lantern is then extinguished and presented to the surviving family. A bell is rung three times, and each time the nurse's name is called.
"At that point, we release you from your earthly nursing duties, and we will carry it on from here," Benjamin said.
A nurse's prayer is read before the guard leaves.
'A beautiful' tribute to nurses
Every service is different, but participating is meaningful and can be "absolutely emotional," Corey said, especially when honoring a friend or close colleague.
At most, it's a 10-minute tribute, but it's beautiful, Benjamin said.
"It's powerful, very powerful," Benjamin said. "You don't come away without people being in tears and it's hard not to be emotional. Those are your fellow nurses. Those are your colleagues."
And they support one another as they have supported patients, from the beginning to the end.
'Once a nurse, always a nurse — there's no getting around that," Benjamin said. "It's just a calling."
More about the Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard
The Finger Lakes Nursing Guard includes licensed practial nurses, registered nurses and nurse practioners who work or have worked in all areas of their nusing profession. Volunteers serve Ontario, Wayne, Seneca and Yates counties.
The organization accepts donations and hosts an annual fundraiser, and volunteers pay dues, all of which which helps pay for items such as flowers and lanterns. They draw awareness to their services through funeral homes and in morepublic ways, such as marching in parades.
The guard has about 50 active members who are good at what they do and invested in it, Benjamin said, but more volunteers are welcomed. For details, visit https://www.flnhg.org/Home/ or https://www.facebook.com/p/Finger-Lakes-Nurse-Honor-Guard-61550616484037/.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard gives late nurses a final tribute
