NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — Nurses have been on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients for more than a year now. There’s a hospital in Texas honoring fallen nurses by paying tribute to their lives. It’s called the Nurses Honor Guard.
Christus Santa Rosa, in New Braunfels, was the first hospital in the state to do this. The Honor Guard is comprised of six nurses. Cindy Shown is one of them. She’s the RN manager of the emergency room.
“Obviously, everyone has endured COVID. We’ve seen it first have here. It’s been a challenging year. Very challenging,” Shown said.
More challenging than she’s ever experienced in her 26 years as a nurse. Shown usually wears scrubs, until it’s time to take part in a group she’s in.
“We decided to come together and create a group that would honor fallen nurses at their funerals or at their memorials,” said Shown.
She and five other nurses wanted to pay tribute to the selfless careers and lives of fallen nurses.
“I’m honored to be able to be a part of this. I would like to think they’re looking down on us and appreciating what we do,” said Shown.
They dress in the uniform nurses once wore decades ago, complete with the traditional white hat. Shown and the others most recently honored a nurse who died in Corpus Christi.
“We did attend a couple of funerals for different nurses that had passed away,” said Shown.
She said she’s been lucky not to know any nurses personally who passed away during COVID. Not everyone can say the same. More than 3,600 nurses died from the virus in the United States.
The person behind getting this group going is Christa De La Garza-Pool. She had heard of nurses in northern states who took part in it.
“There was a need for it in Texas. We have a lot of hospitals in Texas. Of course, we have a lot of nurses in Texas,” said De La Garza-Pool.
De La Garza-Pool, who is the interim chief nursing officer for the hospital, formed this group back in October of 2020. It’s similar to tributes that first responders take part in when one of their own ends their watch.
“Police officers and fire departments also have honor guards. We thought it was important to start our own volunteer Nursing Honor Guard in order to recognize the nursing profession,” said De La Garza-Pool.
Even with the added stress on top of an already exhausting job, De La Garza-Pool, who has been a nurse for 15 years, said this is near and dear to her heart.
“This is a labor of love. My mom is a nurse. My stepfather was a nurse, and my sister is a nurse,” said De La Garza-Pool.
It’s something she plans on doing for years to come. While COVID cases have dropped drastically for both of these nurses, Shown said she welcomes ER patients for any ailments other than COVID symptoms.
“It’s nice to see abdominal pains again. You know, and get back to what we used to see before COVID,” said Shown.
Shown said it’s a sign that things are getting back to normal. One thing that will never get normal is saying goodbye to a fellow nurse. However, it’s something she will do for the foreseeable future.