Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard
Paying Respects: Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp, center, with the Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard. Photo credit: Contributed
For many practitioners, nursing is more than just a profession. It is a sacred calling that sometimes exerts a toll.
“During the pandemic, we lost so many colleagues,” says Jennifer Heyer, a longtime emergency room nurse and associate professor at Albany State University.
So she began researching ways to honor fallen nurses. In 2023, she teamed with her mother, retired nurse Dona Whitfield, to form the Southwest Georgia Nurse Honor Guard, a nonprofit that functions much like a military color guard. Members attend funerals and memorials where they light a candle, present a rose and recite a final call of duty.
The group takes its symbolism from Florence Nightingale, the iconic nurse who became known as “the lady with the lamp” as she tended wounded soldiers in the Crimean War. In honor of her memory, the guard volunteers turn out in crisp all-white uniforms, caps and red-lined blue capes.
“I grow about three inches every time I put that uniform on,” Heyer says. “We light a candle from a Nightingale Lamp. It only takes about five minutes, but it’s a meaningful way to bring a ceremonial close to a life of public service.”
The organization consists of 50 volunteers who have provided more than 60 tributes, free of charge. They travel within a 60-mile radius of Albany.
Heyer also serves as a state director for the Georgia Nurse Honor Guard, which has 21 chapters throughout the state.
“I get a little tearful,” Heyer says, “but it’s been a beautiful journey, bringing comfort to families and loved ones.”
