Welcome to the Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho Nurse Honor Guard
About EWNINHG
Honoring the Hands that Healed
The Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho Nurse Honor Guard (EWNINHG) honors nurses, past and present, through dignified ceremonial tributes that recognize a lifetime of compassionate service. Our volunteer nurses provide professional honors at funerals and memorials, preserve nursing traditions, support grieving families, and celebrate the enduring legacy and contributions of the nursing profession throughout Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
Honoring Nurses with Dignity and Respect
OUR MISSION
To compassionately honor nurses, past and present, through ceremonial tribute, professional presence, and preservation of nursing traditions throughout Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
History of the Nurse Honor Guard
The Nurses Honor Guard began in 2003 by the Kansas State Nurses Association. The goal was to create an honor guard for nurses to recognize an individual’s career-long dedication to nursing and to pay respect at the end of a nurse’s life. The idea was based on a similar service to what the military, police, and firefighters perform for their fallen colleagues. For a long time, it was a service not offered anywhere else. Gradually nurses began to see this at conferences they attended, and a handful of groups started around the country. In 2011 one of those nurses attended a conference in Detroit, Michigan and brought the concept back to her Professional Practice group in Lansing, Michigan. Julia Godby Murray, RN saw her presentation and decided to share this practice all over the country. She slowly began reaching out to groups through social media. In 2023, she has organized over 250 local chapters and new groups are forming at a rapid rate.
