When a nurse’s life and career come to an end, a small but meaningful ritual performed by a local nonprofit ensures their service is remembered. The Nurses Honor Guard (NHG) of Monroe County was founded in 2024 with a simple but powerful mission: “nurses honoring nurses.”
The volunteer group attends funerals and hospice bedsides to perform ceremonial tributes for nurses at the end of their lives. At the center of the effort is founder Aubrey Mann, a registered nurse and adjunct clinical instructor of nursing at Genesee Community College.
“We show up at funerals and the hospice bedside of nurses who have not yet passed away,” Mann says. “It’s a really meaningful way to honor a nurse at the end of their life's journey. We start with what’s called the Nightingale Tribute, and then we do a final call to duty.”
A Nightingale Tribute is a brief ceremony recognizing a nurse’s career and service. A member of the honor guard reads a summary of the honoree’s professional life, followed by words of gratitude and remembrance. To date, the Monroe County chapter has performed more than 72 tributes for Rochester-area nurses.
The ceremony concludes with symbolic gestures tied to nursing tradition. “We say the nurse's name three times, ring the ceremonial bell, and extinguish the Nightingale lamp,” Mann says. “Then we present the lamp to a family member, along with a white rose.”
Each element carries meaning within the profession. The bell represents a nurse’s final call to duty, acknowledging a career spent answering the needs of patients and colleagues. The Nightingale lamp references Florence Nightingale, the pioneering nurse known as the “Lady with the Lamp.” During the Crimean War in the 1850s, Nightingale walked hospital wards at night carrying a lamp while tending to wounded soldiers. In nursing tradition, the lamp symbolizes compassion, vigilance, and the light of knowledge guiding patient care.
The white rose represents compassion and the selfless service nurses provide throughout their careers. Although the rituals remain consistent, Mann says each tribute is designed to feel personal. “We try to include stories and memories shared by loved ones.”
Mann’s inspiration grew out of personal tragedy. Her sister is the widow of Daryl Pierson, a Rochester police officer who was lost in the line of duty in 2014. In the period following his death, Mann witnessed the many traditions honoring fallen officers and began to wonder whether similar practices existed for nurses. “Police officers are so deserving of these kinds of acknowledgments, and so are nurses,” she says. “I thought I’d love to find a way to bring that to the nursing career.”
While attending nursing school in Austin, Texas, Mann discovered that volunteer-run nurses honor guards already existed across the United States. Each operates independently, but they share a common goal: honoring nurses at the end of their lives and careers. “There’s no formal governing body,” Mann says. “What connects us is simply the idea of nurses honoring nurses.”
After returning home to Rochester, Mann decided Monroe County needed its own chapter. It is now one of 24 nurses honor guards operating across the state. Today, the Monroe County organization includes more than 50 volunteers, ranging from nursing students to retirees.
“In addition to tributes at funerals and hospice bedsides, we offer living tributes for retiring nurses and participate in pinning ceremonies for nursing school graduations,” Mann says. “We also speak at conferences and march in parades.”
Although the group focuses on Monroe County, it frequently collaborates with neighboring honor guard chapters across the region. For many families, the ceremonies offer a powerful moment of recognition and closure. “We honored a nurse at her funeral, and her husband came up to us afterward and said the tribute was the first moment he was able to let go and cry,” Mann says.
Moments like that reinforce the purpose behind the group’s work. “Nurses are in a unique position,” she says. “Everyone’s life has been touched by a nurse, whether it’s their own experience in the hospital, caring for a family member, or even seeing stories about nurses during the pandemic.”
“We walk alongside people from birth to death and everything in between,” she adds. “We kind of hold the hand of humanity. “
Request a Tribute or Get Involved
Families wishing to arrange a tribute can contact the Nurses Honor Guard through phone, email, or Facebook. Organizers gather information about the nurse’s life and career before planning the ceremony.
Anyone who has worked as a nurse (LPN, NP, RN, CNM, or CRNA) qualifies to receive a tribute. “We ask families to tell us about the nurse we’re honoring—whether the tribute will be at a funeral service or hospice bedside—and we plan from there,” Mann says.
The organization also accepts donations to help cover ceremonial materials, including the Nightingale lamps and white roses presented during each tribute. “One hundred percent of donations go to materials,” Mann says. “Right now, most supplies are paid for out of pocket by volunteers.”
Volunteers from across the nursing profession are always welcome. “There’s no minimum time commitment,” she says. “You just show up when you can. We accept nursing students all the way through retirees—anyone with a nursing background who wants to honor the profession and colleagues.”
For members of the honor guard, each ceremony offers a final expression of gratitude and reverence for a life spent devoted to the care of others—and a pledge to continue to hold humanity’s hand.
For more information about the Nurses Honor Guard of Monroe County, visit https://nysnurseshonorguard.org or on Facebook @Nurses Honor Guard of Monroe County NY