Lisa Terwilliger
Nurses Honor Guard Champion
story by JEANNE REYNOLDS photos by SUSAN DELOACH
Once a nurse, always a nurse.
“Nursing is more than a profession — it’s a calling to serve and care for those in need,” says Lisa Terwilliger, an RN at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. “It’s an oath you uphold for life.”
Because of that commitment, Lisa explains a nurse needs to be officially released from duty before she or he can rest. That’s where the Nurses Honor Guard steps in, offering a final tribute for a nurse’s lifetime of service.
The Nurses Honor Guard is a national coalition of nurses who volunteer to pay tribute to nurses at the time of their death by performing the Nightingale Tribute — named for the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale — at funerals or memorial services. The service is similar to a military tribute and officially releases the nurse from nursing duties. Honor Guard members dress in the traditional white uniform complete with cap and cape, and conduct a brief ceremony by 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, followed by a roll call for the nurse. The nurse’s name is called three times and a bell is rung after each call of the name. After the roll call without response, the nurse is officially released from duty. A Nightingale lamp, lit at the beginning of the ceremony, is extinguished and presented to the family. The Honor Guard also offers a living tribute service for nurses nearing the end of life. It can be done at a nurse’s or family member’s home or in a hospice setting and includes the presentation of a quilt or blanket to the nurse.
BRINGING THE HONOR GUARD TO BEAUFORT
Lisa, a nurse for more than 25 years, happened to cross an Honor Guard group in Michigan on Facebook and began following them. Intrigued, she reached out to them and they pointed her toward the National Honor Guard Coalition, an umbrella group serving state and local chapters. From there, she connected with Stormy Shealy, who had founded a South Carolina chapter in 2019 with just six nurses to cover the entire state. It had grown quickly, but had no presence in Beaufort.
Lisa determined to change that, pitching the idea to Karen Carroll, Beaufort Memorial’s chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” Karen says. “They do a tremendous service for the families of nurses who’ve given their life to serving others. It’s a beautiful, meaningful, very respectful and solemn service, like a firefighter’s or police officer’s ‘last call.’ It’s the final duty call for a nurse, recognizing her or his contribution at the end of life.”
With the blessing of Karen, and Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley, Lisa began recruiting her colleagues to form an Honor Guard to serve Beaufort and the surrounding area, including Ridgeland, Hampton, Walterboro, Bluffton, and Hilton Head. Despite the organization’s large service area and reliance on a team of 30 volunteers who often must take time off work to participate in the services, Lisa says they’ve never turned down a request to pay tribute to a nurse. She estimates the Beaufort chapter has provided 30 to 40 services in the past two years for people in their 20s to age 98. The Honor Guard also attends meetings, conventions, and other events to educate the community about its services and availability.
“We’re very flexible,” Lisa says. “We’ll go wherever the family wants us and participate in the service when and where they want us.”
The Honor Guard offers both the Nightingale Tribute, and the living tribute services free of charge for the families of active, retired, or disabled registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Lisa says the families sometimes donate financially, but it’s not required or expected. Funding for the Nightingale lamps comes from team members’ dues, the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation paying for the roses, and Beaufort Memorial providing its education building for the group’s meetings and training. The Nurses Honor Guard of SC is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
While the dues are minimal ($35 a year), the emotional cost for Honor Guard members can be considerable. Beaufort chapter members found that out quickly at the first service they performed, held during a nursing student pinning ceremony to recognize a nursing instructor who had died in the middle of the semester.
“The students and staff were devastated,” Lisa says. “It’s very emotional for everyone when you ring that bell three times, call the nurse’s name, and there’s no response. When we train new team members, they ask how to speak without getting choked up and crying, and I tell them it’s okay to do so — we’re human. We feel like it’s a privilege and an honor to do this for nurses who’ve passed away and take this role very seriously when we honor nurses at the time of their death.”
Retired, active, and disabled registered nurses, licensed practical nurse practitioners, and certified registered nurse anesthetists interested in joining or learning more about the Honor Guard, as well as families of nurses who’d like to request an Honor Guard service, can contact Lisa at (843) 986-7017 or lterwilligerrn@yahoo.com.
THE NIGHTINGALE TRIBUTE
Nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living. Nurses here today honor (Name) and his/her life as a nurse.
(Name) is not remembered by his/her years as a nurse, but by the difference he/she made during those years by stepping into people’s lives … by special moments:
(Name) was there when a calming, quiet presence was all that was needed.
(Name) was there in the excitement and miracle of a(Name) was there when a silent glance could uplift a patient, family member, or friend.
(Name) was there at those times when the unexplainable needed to be explained.
(Name) was there when the situation demanded a swift foot and sharp mind.
(Name) was there when a gentle touch, a firm push, or an encouraging word was needed.
(Name) was there in choosing the best one from a family’s “thank you” box of chocolates.
(Name) was there to witness humanity: its beauty, in good times and bad, without judgment.
(Name) was there to embrace the woes of the world, willingly, and offer hope.
(Name) was there.
And now that it is time to be at the Greater One’s side,
(Name) IS there.
© Duane Jaeger, RN, MSN
(Name), we honor you this day and give you a white rose to symbolize our honor and appreciation for being our colleague.
(Name). [ring bell or triangle] (Name). [ring bell or triangle] (Name). [ring bell or triangle]
We officially release you of your nursing duties [lamp is extinguished and given to family member with quiet condolences].
