CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — It’s the equivalent of a 21-gun salute for fallen service members, meant to honor those dedicated to the quiet heroism of healing.
St. Luke’s said Tuesday in a written release that it has launched the first Nurse Honor Guard in the Lehigh Valley to memorialize the lives of nurses.
The idea was sparked several years ago, after Denise Snyder heard a touching Nightingale Tribute at a colleague's memorial service.
“It resonated with me and its importance for any and all nurses,” Snyder said in the release. She works at St. Luke’s Carbon Campus, where she founded St. Luke’s Nurses Honor Guard.
They offer free services, including the Nightingale Tribute.
Known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” Florence Nightingale saved many wounded soldiers during the Crimean War with her pioneering nursing work and laid the foundation for professional nursing.
A member of the Honor Guard will read the Nightingale Pledge, a nursing sonnet and place a rose on their casket while saying their name.
They also provide honorary pallbearers, a Casket Honor Guard, and perform a Final Call to Duty either during a funeral service or at a gravesite, according to the St. Luke's statement.
This is when the honor guard lights the Nightingale Lamp in the nurse’s honor, and calls the nurse's name out as a request to report to duty.
After the third and final call, and with no response, the nurse is announced as retired and the lamp’s flame is extinguished, it said.
“Being able to do this for our nurses has truly become a passion of mine,” said Snyder in the release. “This is one of the greatest community services I have been involved with.”
A career in nursing starts with the cap or pin a nurse receives at graduation. It stays with them through their professional life which ends when the honor guard performs the final call to duty. This is when they are relieved of their nursing duty to rest in peace.
Right now, the Nursing Honor Guard has a team of 55 volunteers across all 14 of St. Luke’s campuses within their health network.
“It is nurses honoring nurses.”Denise Snyder, founding member of St. Luke’s Nurses Honor Guard
“Any nurse is eligible to receive the service from the St. Luke’s Nurses Honor Guard no matter where they were employed,” said Snyder in the release. “It is nurses honoring nurses.”
Currently, the honor guard serves Lehigh, Luzerne, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania, as well as Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.
To arrange for a tribute, call 1-866-STLUKES (785-8537) or email mystlukes@sluhn.org.