Whether it’s serving with her racket on the tennis court or serving patients in a hospital setting, Corbin High School senior Lindsay Jones knows how to get the job done. A four-time regional champion, she is no stranger to performing in high-pressure situations. She has also grown accustomed to performing when the stakes are high in a professional setting, logging a total of 500 volunteer hours at Baptist Health Corbin.
“I have always known that I wanted to do something in healthcare,” said Jones, who has also remained active in the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) organization.
Jones explained that she began volunteering at BHC as a freshman, and has had the opportunity to perform a wide range of tasks en route to logging 500 hours of work time.
“When I first started, there were still a lot of COVID rules and regulations,” Jones explained. “We weren’t allowed to enter patient rooms or do a lot of the things that volunteers had been able to do in the past, so I started out at the front desk. Me and a friend of mine would give hand sanitizer and hand out masks to every person who came in. We also had a big list of questions that we had to ask people to answer.”
Jones said that it wasn’t long before the hospital’s breast care center was in need of a volunteer, so she was sent there to help out. This is where she would end up volunteering most of her time, checking patients in, answering phones, and performing various other clerical duties.
In the summer of 2023, Jones received a unique opportunity that took her out of the office and into the operating room. “I got to shadow in the O.R. under a general surgeon,” she said. “It was probably my favorite thing that I have gotten to do. I did it for about 2-3 weeks, and got to stand in on about 25-30 surgeries.”
Jones said that the types of procedures that she got to witness first-hand included gallbladder removals, appendix removals, and even the amputation of a leg. “I was really nervous going in,” she admitted. “I thought that I might get grossed out, but I never got sick. It was the most interesting thing that I’ve ever seen in my life. It can be intimidating working with doctors, but they were all really welcoming and allowed me to participate in little things that I could. I loved it. It has definitely sparked a passion in me.”
Jones explained that reaching 500 hours has been her goal since she first started volunteering. That’s because it could help her obtain important scholarship funds that will allow her to achieve her dream of becoming a licensed nurse.
“I have always been working toward 500 hours, because Baptist Health gives a pretty good scholarship for college,” Jones said. “That is what I have been working toward.”
Jones said it is a “great feeling” to know that she has finally reached 500 volunteer hours at BHC. She said the experience has helped to instill a confidence in her that wasn’t there when she first started, and has also allowed her to establish meaningful connections with several professionals in the healthcare field.
“It is definitely scary to go into a new environment that you’ve never been in before,” Jones said. “But if God has given you a passion and a desire, just go for it, because you never know where it will take you.”
Jones plans to continue volunteering her time at the hospital until the spring sports season gets underway again in a few months. At that point, she will shift her focus on trying to make it back to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state championships once again with her doubles partner, Katie Morton.
“I am really excited to get started back up again,” Jones said of her upcoming senior season. “I am excited to play with Katie again. I think that we will have another good season, and I hope that we can top what we did last year.”
After high school, Jones plans to attend Eastern Kentucky University and pursue a nursing degree.
