- Hello and welcome to Living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

In recognition of their courage and commitment to others, we pay homage to fallen police officers, firefighters, members of the military, and first responders.

Now, a local health system has sponsored an honor guard to pay tribute to nurses at their time of death.

Our own Grover Silcox visited members of the St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard to learn more about the group and the special recognition that they provide.

Grover, always great to see you.

- Great to be here.

- This sounds like a really special group.

- It really is.

The St Luke Nurse Honor Guard is all about nurses honoring and paying tribute to fellow nurses who die.

- Sure, and at some point or another, during our lives, we all need a nurse and their help.

- That's right.

They are often on the front lines of medicine.

- Absolutely.

And who better knows the nurses than other nurses in this case?

- Yes, according to my conversations with members of the Honor Guard, that's so true.

And of course, my own wife, Peg, and my daughter Kim, who are both nurses.

- Wonderful!

Well, thank them for their service.

- I will.

Nurses fulfill so many different roles, assisting physicians and caring for patients.

Nurses are indeed on the front lines of patient care.

Not only do they care for the sick and injured, but they serve as the eyes and ears of physicians who rely on them for critical observations about specific patients and their conditions.

- The St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard pays tribute to the courage and all the services provided by nurses.

I attended a training session by the Honor Guard, and had the opportunity to learn more about the Nightingale Tribute, and what it means for the dedicated nurses who present it.

- Good morning.

Present this morning are members of the St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard.

- St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard pays tribute to fellow nurses who have died.

- Nursing is a calling, a way of living.

- Denise Snyder, founder of St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard, delivers what is called the Nightingale Tribute with three other members of the group in a mock service for a training video at the Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Palmerton.

- Nurses here today honor Marie Ann Smith, and her life as a nurse.

Marie is not remembered by her years as a nurse, but by the difference she made during those years.

- Denise founded the Nurse Honor Guard at St Luke's Carbon County campus in 2022, along with 18 other members.

Since then, it has expanded to all 14 of St Luke's campuses, and now includes 226 nurse volunteers.

- The Nightingale Tribute is the main piece of the service.

It is... ...bringing light to what they did throughout their career.

When a calming, quiet presence was all that was needed, she was there.

In the excitement and miracle of birth, or in the mystery and loss of life, she was there.

When a silent glance could uplift a patient, family member, or friend, she was there.

At those times when the unexplainable needed to be explained, she was there.

When a gentle touch or an encouraging word was needed, she was there.

So we will acknowledge them, we will do the tribute, and then, we will present a rose in honor of them, a white rose specifically.

Marie, we honor you this day, and give you a white rose to symbolize our honor and appreciation for being our colleague.

- We place the rose there that we're honoring her as a nurse.

- At this time, I would like to ask any nurse present to stand as we do final roll call.

We also chime, as a final call to duty, Marie Ann Smith.

It follows a lot along the line of what military firemen and the police officers do.

- My role today was ringing the chimes during final roll call.

- Marie Ann Smith.

We officially release you from your nursing duties.

Rest easy, our sister in nursing.

- Lynn Birney, a nurse for more than 45 years, extinguishes the flame in final roll call.

- The Honor Guard then offers condolences to the bereaved.

- Extinguishing the flame at the very end of the service is what really gets me every time, and then, handing that lamp off to the family.

- The service not only touches the family of the deceased nurse, but also the hearts of each member of the Honor Guard.

- A very dear friend of mine had passed, and it was difficult to get through it.

Our boys graduated together, so she was very helpful to me along my studies in nursing.

So that was probably the most difficult one I've had to do so far.

But I was honored to do it for her, because she deserved it.

- I think the whole thing is the reading, you know, even as Denise reads what the expired person did, it just gives you the chills.

It still gives me the chills, listening to her say that.

When we lose a colleague, we just want them to know that we are there for them continually, supporting and caring for their patients, that they can rest easy knowing that their patients are in good, good hands.

- St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard doesn't simply memorialize the death of a nurse, but rather the lifetime of service that nurse gave to others.

In tribute to that service, their fellow nurses are there.

- To embrace the woes of the world willingly and offer hope, she was there, And now that it is time to be seated at the Greater One's side, she is there.

- In addition to the Nightingale Tribute and final roll call, the St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard will provide honorary pallbearers and/or a casket honor guard to stand in tribute around the nurse's casket.

- So, Grover, where does the Nurse Honor Guard perform their tribute?

- Well, depending on the wishes of the family, they will perform it wherever the memorial is held, at churches, cemeteries, and funeral homes.

It just depends on the arrangements and what the family wants.

- Sure.

As the nurses in your story said, and many nurses I spoke to, they kind of feel a kinship with one another.

So it's an honor, it seems like, for them to bring this comfort to those grieving families.

- It really is.

As I say in the piece, the nurses themselves are touched by being able to provide this for the families of those fellow nurses who have gone on.

- Sure, nurses are just such special, compassionate people.

- They really are.

And the St Luke's Nurse Honor Guard celebrates its first anniversary coming up.

And so far, they have done 40 presentations, 40 services.

- Wonderful.

They're really making a difference.

Grover, thank you so much for sharing that information with us.

- My pleasure.

- And that'll do it for this edition of Living in the Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.