Tabatha Hall found her calling in first grade: she wanted to be a nurse. A little more than a year ago, Hall came across a video on Facebook about a Nursing Honor Guard in Indiana and with the moving tribute, she found her second calling — as organizer, now program coordinator, of the Vidant Nursing Honor Guard.

“I was like, ‘We have to do this at Vidant. We have to honor our nurses.’ Everyone was on board, it was like immediate approval. Because we’re a family too, and we know how much it means,” Hall said. “When we first presented it at nurse congress, I would say 10 of those members immediately raised their hands and said, ‘We want to help you with this.’”

From 20 volunteers at its start a year and three months ago to 50 now, the Vidant Nursing Honor Guard has attended nine funerals of former nurses, a tribute to those who dedicated their lives to caring for others.

“We actually participate, just as military, police, fire, have their honor guards,” Hall said. “We read the Nightingale pledge, we release the nurse from her duty and present the Nightingale lamp to the family. And we stand guard. It may be (over) a picture or a casket, but we stand guard until the service is over.”

Schedules and the amount of notice determine how many nurses attend a given funeral service. Though they typically stay within the counties Vidant serves, some circumstances do require travel.

“Our first service was in Myrtle Beach for a nurse who had worked at Vidant over 20 years,” Hall said.

Whether one nurse attends a service or five, the gesture is deeply appreciated by grieving loved ones.

“At first, when it’s brought up, they may not know that its’ offered in the area, so we explain it,” Hall said. “But by the end of the service, they can’t praise it enough — they’re so touched.”

The members of the Nursing Honor Guard are impacted as well, she said.

“We feel very honored. Vidant, in itself, is a big part of Greenville and eastern North Carolina, so for us to be able to go out and pay this tribute to our fellow nurses, it means a lot to us,” Hall said. “We hesitate at times because we can get choked up during the service, just like the family does.”

For more information about the Nursing Honor Guard, please contact Tabatha Hall at 252-847-9633.