<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0DXVXN_19jvWSQe00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0DXVXN_19jvWSQe00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>A white rose alongside a Nightingale lamp Griffin Machrowicz</figcaption></figure>ROCHESTER, Minn. (KIMT) - Around a third of Rochester’s population works in the many healthcare facilities spread out around town, thousands of them are nurses. The Rochester Nurses Honor Guard makes sure their sacrifices are honored, even after death.“My mother passed away in 2024, and she was a nurse in Michigan,” said Melissa Uhlmann, a founding member of Rochester Nurses Honor Guard. “When I went home to her funeral, the Michigan Nurses Honor Guard held a memorial service for her at her funeral. The memorial they did for my mom was the most moving part of the entire funeral for me, because a nurse is a nurse until she dies.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Cy18V_19jvWSQe00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Cy18V_19jvWSQe00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>Volunteers from the Rochester Nurses Honor Guard hold a mock-procession in the KIMT studio Griffin Machrowicz</figcaption></figure>Wanting to give the same opportunity to her community in Minnesota, Uhlmann and several other volunteers founded the Rochester branch of the Nurses Honor Guard along with the help of the Wisconsin Nurses Honor Guard.“Mayo does have an Honor Guard, but it is specifically for Mayo nurses, retired and deceased,” said Uhlmann. “I thought, there are lots of other nurses in the community, like myself, who don’t work at Mayo, that deserve to be honored at the time of their passing, or close to passing.”Volunteers of the Honor Guard hold memorial processions at the funerals or deathbeds of their colleagues. During the procession, they give an account of the nurses life, their work, and the sacrifices they made in service to their communities. They end by calling the nurse to duty one final time, and when he/she fails to answer the call, they relieve them from duty, blow out a ceremonial lamp, and lay a white rose atop the casket. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0yFxbI_19jvWSQe00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0yFxbI_19jvWSQe00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>A volunteer blows out the Nightingale lamp, officially relieving the deceased nurse from her duties Griffin Machrowicz</figcaption></figure>“We have the nightingale lamp, which is a very emotional and moving part of the ceremony, because that lamp is touching to most nurses. Its a symbol of the pursuit of knowledge, and the care and compassion that we give as nurses.” Uhlmann said.The Nurses Honor Guard dresses in traditional white scrubs, all of its volunteers are either current or retired nurses, but they welcome volunteers to assist outside of the processions. You can get into contact with the Rochester Nurses Honor Guard through their Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1586810152353062</div></body>

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ROCHESTER, Minn. (KIMT) - Around a third of Rochester’s population works in the many healthcare facilities spread out around town, thousands of them are nurses. The Rochester Nurses Honor Guard makes sure their sacrifices are honored, even after death. “My mother passed away in 2024, and she was a...

Local nurses memorialized through Rochester Nurses Honor Guard

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ROCHESTER, Minn. (KIMT) - Around a third of Rochester’s population works in the many healthcare facilities spread out around town, thousands of them are nu

Local nurses memorialized through Rochester Nurses Honor Guard

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