To Kimberlee Mason, a nurse herself and a member of the Muskegon Community College nursing faculty, being a nurse is more than merely a vocation.
“Nursing isn’t just a profession, it’s a calling,” Mason said. “It’s an important piece of who we are.”
That’s why Mason, along with three other Muskegon-area nurses, launched the Muskegon Area Nurse Honor Guard, an organization that offers tributes to nurses at memorial services from Grand Haven up to Ludington.
The idea of a nurse honor guard appears to have its origins in the Florence Nightingale Tribute, which the Kansas State Nurses Association developed 20 years ago. The tribute, a 20-line reading titled “She Was There,” (The American Nurses Association says individually focused modifications to the tribute are encouraged.) An example two-line couplet is, “At those times when the unexplainable needed to be explained/She was there.” Each couplet ends with “She was there.”
Over time, the idea grew. In 2011, a California nurse, Julia Murray, founded the National Nurse Honor Guard Coalition to help aid others in starting nurse honor guards in their area. The guards have since spread nationwide, similar to military honor guards for veterans.
Mason said she was approached by fellow nurse Sheila Hamilton during a shift in 2021 because Hamilton had seen a video clip of a nurse honor guard tribute and thought it was a wonderful idea. Mason agreed and got in touch with Murray for some ideas on how to get a guard together for the Muskegon area, but as it happened, Murray said she had already been in touch with someone about the idea - Chris Patterson, the nurse who runs Mason’s department at MCC.
“We’d never talked about this, so that was a big surprise,” Mason said. “I contacted Chris and said, ‘I want to do this and never had the time to put it together. but if you guys are doing something, count me in.’”
From there, another happy accident occurred; Mason contacted the Grand Rapids area honor guard, which she said launched just a year or two earlier, for tips. Just like her call with Murray, she was told someone else had already been in touch with them. This time it was Kristina Forman, at the time a Michigan State University nursing student.
Soon enough Mason, Hamilton, Patterson and Forman were teaming up to launch their new idea.
“I just had to put the people together,” Mason smiled. “We scheduled a meeting and we got it up and running, and we still lead it together. It’s definitely been an adventure, but it’s been really rewarding work. We consider it a ministry of sorts.”
The honor guard is all volunteer; no one is paid anything for their participation, including the four leaders. That did create some hurdles early on due to the start-up costs; nurses who participate must provide their own nurses’ uniform, and the tribute uniform includes a sewn cape, which harkens back to what nurses wore in the mid-20th century.
“The capes we wear were a significant purchase,” Mason said. “You have to choose fabrics and find people to sew, and not that many people know how to sew anymore. We did some sewing bees. That’s the most difficult part of things.”
Luckily, the guard was able to find sponsors. Trinity Health Muskegon covered start-up costs, which Mason said were between $1,500 and $1,600. Muskegon Community College donates any printing the group needs to do, including when they printed up business cards to distribute to area funeral homes. Flowers by Ray and Sharon, a Muskegon shop, donates white roses that are distributed as part of each tribute.
“We were really generously supported in the community,” Mason said. “One of the nurses in the Guard, who happens to be very artistic, designed our logo. We were able to make membership pins and things like that. We just took advantage of the generous talent and support of our own community.”
Thanks to those sponsorships and its four leaders’ quick work, the Guard, which began putting things together in May 2021, served at its first funeral service just weeks later, on July 1. Since then, Mason said, it has performed 49 tributes at memorials. Over 150 nurses and former nurses are now part of the Guard.
The Guard has also begun performing what are called living tributes, which are similar to the memorial tributes, but for nurses who are nearing the end of their lives. Mason said the Guard has performed one already and a second is scheduled.
“We do a different version of the tribute for nurses who are still alive,” Mason said, recalling the group’s first one. “We wrap them in a pretty blanket with our logo embroidered on it, and we have time to reminisce and share nursing stories. She was in her 90s and served as a nurse in the Korean War. It was fascinating to hear her stories and perceptions of nursing from someone who’s seen it change so much through the decades.”
The Guard celebrates its members every year on the anniversary of its founding, which happens to time up well with Nightingale’s May 12 birthday. Mason said nearly half the volunteers in the Guard came to last year’s gathering. The group has also marched in two veterans’ parades.
“We have a beautiful dinner and recognize people who have volunteered, at sewing bees or at tributes,” Mason said. “We have a birthday cake for Florence. That’s kind of a special time and we’ve really enjoyed that.”
Mason said the Guard is always seeking more volunteers, especially for the northern part of its coverage area. She is also now the Michigan Nurses Honor Guard Coalition Coordinator, keeping tabs on and helping other guards that are forming in the state.
As the Guard continues to grow, she’s looking forward to being part of many more nurse tributes.
“If you do know a nurse who passes, get in touch with the funeral home, and they’ll contact us,” Mason said. “We are on Facebook under Muskegon Area Nurse Honor Guard. We have a lot of people that follow the group, not just nurses, just to see what we’re up to.”
