School of Nursing
Continuing the Tradition with Your Donation
Alumni Association
The Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing’s Alumni Association was organized in 1910 and incorporated in 1912. The main purpose was to support student nurses and help the membership grow professionally. Scholarships were granted to two students each year through the Mary Nesbitt Scholarship Fund.
Today the Jennie Edmundson Alumni Association is still active and continues to support nursing students through nursing scholarships. In 2015 the Jennie Edmundson Foundation aligned with the JE Alumni Association to help support and manage the finances. The Jennie Edmundson Hospital Foundation and the Executive Committee of the Jennie Edmundson Alumni Association continue to work together in awarding nursing scholarships through the JE Alumni Association. The JE Foundation also hosts the Annual Spring Banquet for the Alumni Association and provides a support staff person to assist the Alumni when needed.
Jennie Edmundson Nurse Honor Guard
The Jennie Edmundson Nurse Honor Guard was formed by Alumni from the Jennie Edmundson Hospital School of Nursing. The JE School of Nursing was the oldest diploma nursing program West of the Mississippi River, founded in 1889 and graduating the last class from this program in May 1997. It is made up of Jennie nurses and others paying tribute to their nursing sisters and brothers who have passed. The service is similar to a military tribute and officially releases the nurse from their nursing duties.
- The ceremony is brief consisting of the JE Nurse Honor Guard paying respect by reciting the Nightingale Pledge, a roll call for the nurse by calling their name/license number, and laying a white rose next to the casket or urn which symbolizes the nurse's dedication to the profession. A lit Nightingale lamp is carried up at the beginning of the ceremony and is extinguished at the conclusion of the ceremony.
- Jennie Edmundson nurses participating in the ceremony are in white uniforms wearing original Jennie Edmundson capes and their school caps. The capes are either the nurse's own cape or ones that have been given back by the families of graduates who have passed, some dating back over 75 years. Nurses from other programs are dressed accordingly.
- Jennie Edmundson Foundation sponsors the Nurse Honor Guard and was instrumental in helping the group begin their mission to honor their comrades. The Foundation provides the roses and an area for the Honor Guard to store their capes and caps to help keep them in pristine condition.
- The members of the JE Nurse Honor Guard are dedicated to the profession of nursing and are honored to be part of your loved ones remembrance.