One of the nurses went to the podium and talked about Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, and how she became known as the Lady of the Lamp from the time she was seen in the dark alleys with a lamp while caring for the injured soldiers of the Crimean War in the 1850s.

After the group of nurses recited the Nightingale Pledge, an oath taken at nursing graduations, the Nightingale Lamp was lit — a ceramic lamp that represents the light nurses bring to their patients, offering hope and comfort, especially in the face of suffering and illness.

The pledge:

“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty I will endeavor to aid physicians in their work and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.”

Then another nurse beckoned Meier to her Final Call to Duty:

“This is the final call for Gladys Meier who has served selflessly and given her life for the good of her fellow man. Would Gladys Meier, license number 22275, please report for duty.”

This was repeated two more times before the candle was extinguished and the nurse said,

“Her tasks are complete, her duties are done. Gladys is going home.”

The nurses then presented the lamp to Meier’s daughters, Joan Drewes of West Babylon, New York, and Martha Kersbergen, of Fort Dodge.

The nurses who honored Meier at her funeral services on Feb. 23 are part of the Nursing Honor Guard at Unity Point Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge.

The Nursing Honor Guard has been conducting such ceremonies at the funeral services for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in a 50-mile radius of Fort Dodge since 2006, when it first formed for the funeral of Jan Tasler at Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

Before her death at the age of 54, Tasler, who was employed at Trinity Regional Medical Center and with Home Health Care and Hospice, had requested that there be a nursing honor guard at her funeral. She knew of such honor guards in other cities. Nurses at Trinity honored her request and decided to make nursing honor guards available for similar services in the future when requested by a family.

The coordinator of the program, Emily Larson, manager of Oncology & Infusion Services at Trinity Regional Medical Center, assumed the role with Christina Fevold, Quality Department nurse manager, in 2020 from Deb Shriver.

Larson said, “Nursing is a very demanding career. It’s an honor to do something for those who have done so much for other people.”

When a request for the Honor Guard is made by a deceased nurse’s family, usually conveyed through a funeral home or church, Larson goes to her email distribution list of about 80 nurses and puts out a call for volunteers who would be available.

“I like to have a minimum of four people at a funeral,” she said. “On average, we have six to 10 at every funeral. Normally we don’t do gravesite services unless a family requests. Sometimes we’re asked to be at a visitation only. It’s getting more common that people have visitations right before the funeral rather than the day before, and in those cases, we stay through both if requested.”

What members of the Honor Guard wear is important to the ceremony. Their white caps and white uniforms harken back to an earlier era when both were standard for nurses – before colored nursing scrubs replaced them. The woolen capes, red on the inside and dark blue on the outside, are also vestiges of a past era.

“Initially we had no capes, except for a few nurses who had their own,” Janet Meyne said. “I am not sure when capes were discontinued. Initially they were in place because the women stayed in a nursing dorm close to the hospital and wore their capes over their uniform when they went to and from the hospital for their training. As the years have gone by, families have donated capes to the hospital after we were present for their family member’s funeral. We have found one at a garage sale, on eBay or through a donation.   We are always on the lookout for nursing capes.”

The Honor Guard participated in 13 funerals in 2023 and 13 in 2024, and so far in 2025, it has taken part in 10. In all, the Honor Guard has taken part in well over 100 funerals since its formation. All of the nurses are volunteers, and donations to help with expenses for the program come through the Trinity Foundation, Larson said, most often from families whose loved ones were honored.

“I have participated in this since 2006,” said Meyne, a retired nurse who recently moved from Fort Dodge to Ankeny. “It is one of my greatest honors to recognize the nursing profession and give tribute to those nurses who have served their community. As nurses we spent many weekends and holidays caring for those that required our services, so this meant time away from our own families on days when many others who worked were at home.  The Nursing Honor Guard recognizes those individuals who have dedicated their lives to the profession of nursing.”

Another who has been part of the Nursing Honor Guard since its inception is Alyce Ann Lawler — one of the longest-serving nurses in Fort Dodge history who played a major role in forming the first critical care units at Mercy Hospital and Bethesda Hospital. The two hospitals merged in 1974 to form what would become today’s Trinity Regional Medical Center. Lawler remained in critical care and retired in 2013 after a 47-year career. Her daughter, Jennifer Lawler Hansch, is a registered nurse who is day supervisor at Trinity.

“It’s such an honor to take part in the Honor Guard,” Alyce Ann Lawler said. “What strikes me is how the families are always so impressed. I think what the ceremony does is make them realize even more what their mother or sister or daughter did to help others as a nurse. Once you see how much the family appreciates it, it makes you want to do it more.”

Nineteen cities in Iowa have Nurse Honor Guard organizations, said statewide coordinator Deb Ivis, who also coordinates the MercyOne Nurse Honor Guard in Des Moines. Another near Fort Dodge is the Calhoun County Nurse Honor Guard in Rockwell City.

At her mother’s funeral, Kersbergen said that when she first saw the Honor Guard nurses, she burst into tears. “There standing before me was my ‘Mom’! White uniform, white cap, navy wool cape with red lining, and white shoes! Just the way I remember Mom looking each day she went to work. 

“Each of them greeted my sister and I. I mentioned to one of them that I liked that they draped the cape open on one side exposing the rich red satin lining. She told me that it was intentional so they could greet with a courteous handshake.

“Then the Nurse Guard positioned themselves staggered down the center church aisle on ‘guard’ for the funeral attendees. They remained in this formation as the casket passed by and the family was seated. To me, this incredible show of respect was what my Mom deserved. She always felt her registered nurse title was not a career choice, it was her sacred ‘calling’ to be of humble service to God.”

As the entire Honor Guard recited the Nightingale Pledge, Kersbergen said, “I turned and looked at my daughter, who has her BSN from the University of Iowa, and she was saying the pledge with them.”

Drewes said she was able to hold herself together for her mother’s funeral…until the Honor Guard’s last call for duty.

“It broke me wide open, and I wept with my entire soul,” she said. “This moment was so deeply emotional — and a true honoring for Mom.  There aren’t many words to describe what this ceremony did for us.  It was the ‘last call to duty’ and ‘Gladys is going home’ that truly broke my heart wide open.  After the service, the Honor Guard stood at the exit of the nave to wish us all well.  I hugged them all with joyful tears of gratitude.”