EvenMORE For You

Stress and Communication

By Danny Gutknecht

The biggest challenge I encounter in helping people connect to themselves, and others are assisting them in exposing and dealing with imaginary voices. An internal narrator stokes the flames of fear that constantly wears you down and is usually a liar. The authentic voice is stifled—this communication problem is like a gigantic generator that pumps stress throughout their psyche. 

So, a large part of my job involves communication. You might wonder how someone focused on helping people grow and rediscover their inner spark stumbled into solving communication issues. The connection is simple:  growth involves first overcoming internal communication barriers before connecting to others.

Many organizations and individuals face communication challenges due to emotional imbalances and maladaptations to today's fast-paced world. These imbalances affect how people communicate with themselves and negatively impact their interactions with others. The hidden fears and desires that result from this emotional turmoil can distort conversations, leading to personal and relational difficulties. These distortions have a massive impact on culture, well-being, and organizational growth.

Organizations improve once their people improve. Improving your life is about improving the quality of your time, which includes work. You are the only person in every frame of the movie who is called your life, and all your interactions are influenced by how you show up.

Often, when we feel stress and anxiety, it's the inner voice telling us something isn't right; something within us wants to be exposed, said, and resolved. It's the drive to grow, but we must "work" on ourselves to grow. When we don't, anxiety and stress persist, and we suffer.

The strange paradox about growth is that it requires us to lean into the tensions of stress or anxiety, asking what they want from us—and listening for an answer. Coaches and trained guides can help us bring out the hidden narrators and begin to take control of our stories. They can help us discover the tensions or aspects we don't see in ourselves. When we begin to learn how to pay attention to our attention when we are listening to others is when something extraordinary happens: we begin to judge less, evaluate less, and understand more. And we stop blocking others out with assumptions.

Meet Leslie Gruenberg, LPN in Philly

As we know firsthand many times over, there is an incredibly special kind of nurse who specializes in end-of-life care. Leslie Gruenberg, LPN of Crossroads in Philadelphia is one of them. What is it that makes her excellent?

According to Philadelphia Clinical Director Dannell Miller, APRN, Leslie “always puts her patients first. She is an amazing patient advocate.” Dannell said Leslie is a “go to” for emergencies and situations requiring an unexpected quick response. Dannell thinks of Leslie as a team member who truly goes “above and beyond.”

But the biggest compliment Dannell gave Leslie is that she would want Leslie to care for one of her own loved ones in hospice care.

“What it comes down to is compassion,” Leslie explained. Echoing what Dannell had said, “I treat people like a family member, how I would want someone I love to be treated.”

Leslie Gruenberg, LPN of Crossroads in Philadelphia

Emulating the Care She Received

Leslie reminisced that she had always wanted to be a nurse. Her life’s goal has been to emulate the care she received as a seriously injured 17-year-old after being hit by a drunk driver when crossing the street as a pedestrian. Her recovery was long and the nursing care she received was everything.

Now, 58, Leslie said she manages compassion fatigue with an incredible personal support system and an understanding that, like so many hospice professionals, going above and beyond is just the way she’s wired.

Before working in end-of-life care, Leslie spent more than 20 years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) where she said she observed so much traumatic, sudden death.

Helping patients manage their pain and spiritual needs as they approach a peaceful, attended death is so rewarding in comparison, according to Leslie.

Note: This is the first profile of an excellent Crossroads nurse in a new EvenMORE for You series Excellence in Nursing.

We Review Them All!

A more personalized answer requires contact information

Because we are doing everything possible to connect with team members and learn how we can improve our processes and your work life, we encourage questions of any kind about how we do business, including anonymous questions.

One hundred percent of comments receive a personalized answer if the team member’s contact information is provided. We thank all the team members who have made comments and asked questions since we began this initiative last June.

The anonymous question option isn’t personal but it is still very helpful. All anonymous questions and comments are reviewed carefully at the corporate office.

Through the anonymous comments option we often hear the same question asked from multiple team members. We will answer some of these anonymous questions from time to time here in EvenMORE for You.

The first question asked many times is: “Why can’t we have flexible working hours?”

Why Flexible Work Hours Aren’t Productive

According to Crossroads Senior Vice President of Operations Terri Doughty, individual team members, all with different work schedules, doesn’t work for patients and doesn’t work for important referral sources.

"It is critical that all are present for daily clinical calls,”  Terri explained. Further, she explained, we have to have our full workforce available during daytime business hours to respond quickly to our referral sources and patients with unexpected changes in their conditions, emergencies and new needs.

Most healthcare providers operate with a similar mindset on the clinical frontlines with administrative functions aligning to support their success. 

Thank you again for your questions and comments. We look forward to continued dialogue and collaboration with you as Crossroads progresses and grows.