NORFOLK, Va. — A program at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital is giving nurses a meaningful sendoff — honoring their years of service at the end of their lives through a volunteer honor guard called "Kathleen's Angels."
Katie Zechmeister, MSN, RN, arrhythmia and non-invasive nursing supervisor, started the group after a similar organization honored her late mother, Kathleen, following her death in 2017.
"I wanted to be a nurse because of my mom," Zechmeister said.
Zechmeister followed in her mother's footsteps, becoming a nurse and even working alongside Kathleen at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pittsburgh. When her mother passed away, Zechmeister received an unexpected call.
"I got a call from the Angels of Allegheny saying that they wanted to honor my mom, that they had heard that she had passed away," Zechmeister said.
The Angels of Allegheny is a nursing honor guard that recognizes nurses for their years of service. Members wear traditional nursing attire, retire the nurse's license number — a symbolic gesture marking the end of their service — and give the family a "lamp of learning" after extinguishing the flame.
"They all lined up around my mom, and they did a beautiful service honoring her for her 44 years of dedicated service to the profession of nursing," Zechmeister said.
The experience moved her deeply.
"I couldn't imagine a better sendoff for a nurse. It touched me so much that I knew that I had to bring this to Sentara," Zechmeister said.
Now up and running in Norfolk Kathleen's Angels honors local nurses in the same tradition. Brenda Smith, who recently retired as an advanced heart failure coordinator, volunteers with the group. She also spent many years working in tandem with Zechmeister.
"I knew immediately as soon as I heard about it [that I wanted to be a part of it]," Smith said.
Smith said the ceremonies carry deep meaning for the families of nurses who are honored.
"When we go to do the ceremony it's so emotional," Smith said.
"What we're doing with this is actually giving that closure with going through what and who they were," Smith said.
The tradition is endorsed by the American Nurses Association. For Zechmeister, every ceremony is a reminder of the woman who inspired her career.
"[My Mom Kathleen] was a very special woman, and I wish more people got to know her, but she does live on through me," Zechmeister said.
Kathleen's Angels is a volunteer group of 12 registered nurses.
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