The SOUTHWEST GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD is a designated 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that recognizes those nursing colleagues who have dedicated their lives to the profession of Nursing.
We are nurses who volunteer our time to pay tribute to the nurse at the time of their death by performing the Nightingale Tribute and Last Call of Duty at the funeral, memorial, or graveside service. This ceremony is similar to a military tribute (without guns) and officially releases the nurse from their nursing duties. This ceremonial tribute lasts about 5 minutes . Our goal is to provide dignity and respect in recognition to our fellow colleagues (free of charge) at the time of their passing and provide comfort and support to the grieving families.
“I cannot express enough gratitude for the compassionate and dignified services provided by Nurse Honor Guard. The team’s professionalism and respect for the nursing profession were evident in every aspect of their service. Nurse Honor Guard truly honored their colleague in a way that reflected the care and dedication she showed to her patients. Their presence provided comfort and a sense of solidarity to the family during this challenging time. I wholeheartedly recommend Nurse Honor Guard to honor a Nurse or family seeking a meaningful and respectful tribute for a nurse who has passed away. Thank you for your outstanding service.”
Joshua G Barnes Licensed Funeral Director Barnes & Greer Funeral Services
MAY 12 DESIGNATED GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD DAY!
Georgia Nurse Honor Guard has received a Commendation from Governor Brian Kemp recognizing May 12 (Florence Nightingale’s birthday) as “Georgia Nurse Honor Guard Day” in the State of Georgia.
Thank you to Southwest Georgia Living Magazine, the region’s premier lifestyle magazine, for the great article in the July / August 2024 issue highlighting our organization.
(Nurse Honor Guard Tribute February 2024)
The Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard considers it a privilege to honor our fallen colleagues. To request a tribute please contact us at SWGAnurse@outlook.com
Proud to introduce some of our volunteers
After attending several colleagues’ funeral services throughout the years, we felt led to create a local chapter modeled after the National Nurses Honor Guard Coalition to serve our fallen colleagues. Considering the military, police, and firemen have ceremonial honor guards at the time of their passing, we feel it is important to honor nurses in a similar fashion.
Our first service
Pinning with Honor Guard pin at our first service
First service Honor Guard pinning
“We believe nursing is a calling, a way of life. With over 86 combined years of nursing service, we have dedicated our lives to our profession. We believe nursing is an honorable profession and therefore our colleagues should be recognized not only during their professional lives but also at the end of their journey.”
Jennifer Heyer, RN, MSN, FNP Founder, Board of Directors Chair, and State Coordinator Dona Whitfield, RN, CPAN-C Founder, Board of Directors Secretary / Treasurer
Services offered within a 60 mile radius of Albany GA
The SOUTHWEST GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD is a designated 501 (c) (3) nonprofit. We are a member group of the Georgia Nurse Honor Guardnetwork, sanctioned by the National Nurse Honor Guard Coalition and are funded solely through donations. Your support and contributions will enable us to provide families a free service at their loved one’s funeral. Your generous donation will fund our mission. We accept PAYPAL donations by clicking the link above.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS TO VOLUNTEER WITH OUR CHAPTER
Voluntary membership shall be open to all RNs, NPs, CRNAs, nurse midwives, and LPNs, active or retired, in good standing by the GA Board of Nursing. Members seeking induction will provide proof of licensure from the GA BON.
Members must renew application annually.
Membership fee is $50 annually. This fee will cover the cost-of-service equipment, one pair of white gloves to be used during services, clasp (for cape), and member pin. Pin will be awarded after completion of first service.
Members are responsible for purchasing the following:
White nursing cap from designated source
Nursing cape from designated source
White nursing uniform and white nursing shoes
Members must attend training.
Members will attend funeral, memorial, or graveside services per their availability and follow the outlined tribute.
Members shall attend at least one tribute per year.
Membership is voluntary, and no reimbursements will be made for uniforms (including capes or caps), transportation, mileage, or annual membership dues.
Outside our service area? Try the STATE SITE!
If you require an Honor Guard service and are outside our service area, please visit the GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD website or Facebook page. The website contains a map (by county) of the areas served by each chapter as well as contact info for each group.
I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the Southwest GA Nurse Honor Guard for the profoundly moving tribute held in honor of Dr. Ramona Mulleins Foreman. As a beloved faculty member at Georgia Southwestern State University, Dr. Foreman touched countless lives through her unwavering dedication to nursing education, her compassionate spirit, and her tireless commitment to the profession.
The ceremony was a beautiful reflection of the values Ramona embodied…..dignity, service, and grace. Your tribute captured the essence of her legacy and offered a moment of collective remembrance that was both humbling and healing.
We are truly fortunate to have the Southwest GA Nurse Honor Guard in our community. Your presence brings honor not only to those who have served in nursing but also to the profession itself. The reverence and respect you show in each ceremony remind us of the sacred calling of nursing and the deep bonds which unite us. Thank you for being here….for standing in tribute, for lifting up the lives of those who have given so much, and for reminding us all of the power of service.
With sincere love & appreciation,
Dr. Laura Kim Gosa and all of the GSW faculty & staff
My Mother-in-Law was honored by the SWGA Nurse Honor Guard June, 6, 2025 in Thomasville, Georgia. I was unaware until then of such a service, even being a retired nurse myself.
All in attendance witnessed a beautiful and heartfelt ceremony to my Mother-in-Law, who became a Nurse in the 1950’s. She continued on to become a Nurse Anesthetist, later teaching the practice to young nurses. She volunteered at Archbold Hospital, Georgia for more than 25 years, well into her 80’s.
Our family is eternally grateful for the compassionate and moving tribute professionally delivered honoring one of our very own family dedicated nurses. After the Honor Guard honored her with a white rose, it was placed on her coffin, they then lit the Nightingale Lamp and candle, and presented it to a family member. My Mother-in-Law’s name was announced for her final Call to Duty, her tasks were completed and her nursing duties were done.
If you are ever witness to a Nurse receiving the Nurse Honor Guard Ceremony, you will be moved to tears, as there was not a dry eye among us. Many thanks go out to the Volunteers at SWGA and every Guard honoring fellow nurses in this glorious way.
I attended a celebration of life today for a beloved friend and fellow nurse. The honor guard was present to honor her service as a nurse. I had never seen this in person until now. However, I knew it would be a special and meaningful part of the service, especially since I knew the nurse founder of the guard, one of my beloved nursing instructors, Jennifer Heyer. The guard of 9 nurses honored my friend well with their professional speech and emotion. After honoring her with a white rose, they lit the Nightingale lamp and passed it to her family to keep. Her name was announced for her final call of nursing then announced that her tasks are complete and her duties are done, and she was released from her nursing duties. This was a very emotional moment, not just for the nurses in attendance, but every person there. The Honor Guard is truly and simply, nurses honoring nurses.
I have been in attendance of this SOUTHWEST GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD! Absolutely profound group of nurses honoring the legacy of fellow nursing colleagues!! Great Job— emotional moment for everyone witnessing the honors of former colleagues and nurses!!
I cannot express enough gratitude to the Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard for the incredible tribute they gave my mother-in-law at her memorial service in Albany, GA. As a nurse for 48 years, she dedicated her life to caring for others, and the Honor Guard recognized her service in the most beautiful and meaningful way.
Their presence was powerful, and the ceremony was conducted with such grace, professionalism, and heartfelt sincerity. Countless people came up to me afterward in awe of the honor they gave her. It was unlike anything many had ever witnessed before.
As a fellow nurse, it touched me deeply to see our profession honored in such a dignified and respectful manner. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving her the recognition she so richly deserved.
Beautiful Service Honors for Ms Helen Carr— RN in Omega, GA yesterday! So very heartfelt MsHelen was my friend from my beginnings in Healthcare in the 1970’s. At the time I was Unit Secretary at TRMC and if I remember correctly she was an LPN. She moved on to her RN status later and I eventually became an LPN. Your organization is great and I would like to become a member! Wonderful Service honoring the sacrifices of NURSES throughout their career of serving others in this life.
My mother, Yvonne McCook, was honored by the SW Georgia Nurse Honor Guard on January 7, 2025 in Camilla, Ga. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony that truly honored her and her service. I am so proud to be her daughter and also followed in her footsteps and became a nurse. More than one person came to me after the service and expressed how this ceremony made them wish they had become a nurse. While her service is complete, maybe her service or the work of these volunteers will inspire others to consider this wonderful profession. Many thanks to the dedication of these volunteers and this wonderful chapter in SW Georgia. Brenda Greene
I am sincerely grateful for your service in honoring my mother. Your honor guard performed with the highest discipline and precision.
As a senior military officer, I have attended countless functions in my 35 years of service. I can attest none were performed more professionally than yours. Your dignified ceremony brought the highest honor on behalf of my mother to myself, my brother, my sister, our extended family and friends.
Again, thank you for your dedication to this important mission of honoring nurses. We are grateful.
SWGA Nurse Honor Guard did an outstanding job at my dear friend’s memorial service yesterday. They were thorough explaining their process and answered all questions promptly. The team was very professional. They showed true honor to a colleague. Nurses attending the service, spoke highly of them and were greatly impacted.
Thank y’all for providing this caliber of honor to fellow nurses.
Today I said goodbye to a very special friend. She was 58 years old, having spent 38 of those years as a nurse. Nursing, like many other chosen professions, IS a calling. But unlike many other professions, nurses don’t ever “clock out.” The act of nursing encompasses every aspect of a nurse’s life.
Today, the Southwest Georgia Nurses Honor Guard beautifully acknowledged that life of servitude, performed a heartwarming ceremony, and honorably relieved my dear friend of her nursing duties. It was one of the loveliest and most moving rituals I’ve ever experienced. The decorum within which these ladies held themselves was absolutely outstanding. The love and honor that they expressed is something I will cherish forever.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did today and for this amazing service you so selflessly provide. May God bless each and every one of you.
I was present at a service today at the home of my dear friend and coworker. This was a very special and significant tribute. Thank you so much for helping us honor her today. It meant the world.
“I cannot express enough gratitude for the compassionate and dignified services provided by Nurse Honor Guard. The team’s professionalism and respect for the nursing profession were evident in every aspect of their service. Nurse Honor Guard truly honored their colleague in a way that reflected the care and dedication she showed to her patients. Their presence provided comfort and a sense of solidarity to the family during this challenging time. I wholeheartedly recommend Nurse Honor Guard to honor a Nurse or family seeking a meaningful and respectful tribute for a nurse who has passed away. Thank you for your outstanding service.”
Joshua G Barnes
Licensed Funeral Director
Barnes & Greer Funeral Services
We have all seen or at least know that police, firemen & the military have honor guards at funerals for their fallen colleagues, but just recently did I learn there is a National Nurses Honor Guard Coalition—
Nurses that volunteer their time to honor those colleagues at the time of their death.
I have many friends that are nurses (I have also been hospitalized several times and I see and are thankful for the care I have received from the nursing staff)—it HAS to be a calling!
I believe, just like police, firemen & the military, that Nurses should also be honored at the time of their death!
Now, thanks to a daughter & mom, (Jennifer Heyer & Dona Whitfield) both nurses—whose love & dedication for their profession has founded “The Southwest Georgia Nurses Honor Guard Coalition”!
I was thrilled when I recently attended the funeral of a close family friend who was also a retired nurse. Jennifer & her group gave a beautiful tribute to our friend. The “Nightingale Tribute “ was especially precious!
Thank you to The Southwest Georgia Nurses Honor Guard! God Bless!
The Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard was present at my grandmother’s funeral in December 2023. It was a touching and important part of the service to honor my grandmother’s dedication since 1953 to nursing others. Nursing is not a job, it’s a calling and was an integral part of who she was here on Earth. It was so special to have that part of her life honored by her colleagues. God bless you all for volunteering your time to honor others in this very meaningful way.
The Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard was present at my Mom’s service, having been a nurse for 20+ years. They were very professional and it was so nice to have them recognize her unwavering service to the field of nursing. Once your call to nursing begins, it continues throughout the rest of your life in one way or another and it is comforting to know that those left behind will continue to “carry the torch” of nursing throughout time! Thanks again SWGNHG♥️
SOUTHWEST GEORGIA NURSE HONOR GUARD 
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