We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsay Corkum. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsay below.

Alright, Lindsay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

I had a Hospice female patient with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease who was married to her husband for over 70 years. She was very confused at all times and couldn’t verbalize her needs. However, she always responded so well when her husband was with her. She would instantly relax and be calm in his presence and when hearing his voice. When she unfortunately passed, her husband, who was in otherwise good health, sadly also passed away only three weeks later after suddenly discovering he had leukemia. My main take away from that experience was that when we are surrounded with unwavering love and an amazing support system, our health and wellbeing thrives. It taught me the extreme importance and necessity of choosing the right life partner. My job and this particular story has stressed in me the importance of who I choose to remain close to me growing older. Gratitude continues to flood me on a daily basis and I owe it all to hospice nursing and the incredible stories of my patients and their families.

Lindsay, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a 33 year old Hospice Registered Nurse. When I was in high school, I knew early on that I wanted to go into medicine and help others. I was working in a nursing home and very quickly observed how caring, genuine and warm many of the nurses were. After completing nursing school in Boston, Massachusetts, I worked in multiple different hospitals from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and then Los Angeles. In those years of working in an inpatient setting, I had several actively dying patients. Initially, as a young nurse in her early 20s I was very apprehensive to care for these patients, as death and dying was something I very rarely thought about or considered. After experiencing nursing burnout in the hospital and questioning which path I wanted my nursing career to go, I decided to take a chance working for a hospice agency in Beverly Hills in 2017. It was a very small agency with only 25 patients at the time, but I instantly loved the connections I was making and impact I was having with patients and their families in their homes versus the lack thereof I felt in the hospital setting. It reinvigorated my love for nursing. I am so proud of not only how much I have grown as a nurse, but also how much I have grown from a 25 year old young girl entering the field of Hospice care to the 33 year old woman I am today. I see death and dying now as something that can always have a seat at the table of conversation and no longer that taboo topic we never discuss out of fear. I want people to know that Hospice services are so impactful and can help infinitely more people if we as a population agree to discuss what death and dying means to us and for our families. It provides comfort, a gentle touch, a warm hug for whatever transition comes next out of this world. I encourage everyone to start having more discussions with their loved ones about their wishes.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

In the field of nursing, I find that it is nearly impossible to effectively care for others if you are not taking the time and space for yourself. Your “off” time has to be just that, completely off. It has to be completely disconnected. Anyone going into nursing is already an innately giving and altruistic person. There is this overarching belief that this means we have to always put others’ needs above our own. Over time, I have had to unlearn this belief over and over again. If you are a creative and/or artist, never let your work life take over so much that you lose that part of you. That creative part of you will always fill your cup unlike anything else can. It will help fuel whatever other endeavors you take on. I have to actively set aside time to continue dancing and taking classes. Allow yourself on your off time to continue exploring your creative side. I believe this is our true inner child- where we can play, stay youthful and actually live. Get plenty of rest on your days off. Go for walks outside. Exercise. Take vacation time! Hospice nursing teaches you how short and precious life is. Be grateful for your youth and good health everyday.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I experienced significant burnout when working as a nurse in the hospital setting after three years. My shifts were alternating between days and nights, I worked every other weekend, most holidays and had difficulty scheduling time to see friends and be social. My sleeping pattern was completely off which affected my eating habits and both my physical and mental health suffered because of it. I also grew up dancing at multiple studios, taking classes and performing often. However, my work schedule in the hospital made it almost impossible for me to continue dancing at the level I had been. This worsened my burnout because dance had always been my outlet. Without it, I was spiraling deeper into burnout and stress. In late 2016, I remember calling my sister panicking and crying before a night shift at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. I was sure that if I didn’t change something quickly, I was going to have a full breakdown. It was not long thereafter where I accepted a travel nurse position in Los Angeles, where I knew I would work one 3 month assignment in the hospital, be able to dance and take classes more and also have the time to look for a less stressful, outpatient setting position. I trusted my gut in that moment, that moving away from all my family and friends was going to probably be the hardest decision of my life, but eventually the most rewarding for my mental and physical health. Fast forward to 2024 and I am working in an outpatient Hospice setting, where I make my own schedule, form deep and genuine connections in a calmer setting AND get to have more autonomy to do the things that fill my cup: dancing, creating, taking classes and now recently diving into comedy and improv. I am so happy I took that leap and would encourage anyone who feels stuck to do so.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @LinCork

Image Credits

Dexter Brown