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Architect Better Experience

By Danny Gutknecht
“We architects of life, developing words that linger,” lyrics from a 1983 Yes song, came to mind as I began writing this segment.

We continually shape our reality through the stories we tell ourselves and others. Even short snippets or brief episodes communicate our attitudes and emotions.

Reflecting on our own stories reveals a clear pattern: optimistic narratives transform challenges into opportunities, setbacks into lessons, and difficulties into growth. While, pessimistic narratives often frame experiences negatively, reinforcing feelings of misery and limitation. So, what are we architecting every day to each other? With each other? 

Changing our narrative isn't as simple as deciding to tell a different story—or is it?

Let’s take an extreme example. Viktor Frankl experienced profound brutality and suffering during his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps. Although there wasn’t a single moment, Frankl describes a realization that he had, a choice that we can make in a situation where there seem to be no choices. 

At one point—while being forced to perform hard labor during brutal cold conditions of exhaustion and starvation—he recognized that while the guards controlled his external circumstances, he retained the ultimate freedom to choose his internal response—his attitude. Next, he decided to help others; and over time, by helping others find meaning in horrible circumstances, other prisoners began to shift their attitude. Lifting others up actually helped keep others alive. He learned that meaning is not only transformational but also somewhat transferrable.

Frankl also wrote how the inmates who maintained a sense of meaning and hope endured the suffering better, while those who lost hope deteriorated more quickly. The realization—that we always retain the freedom to choose our attitude—led Frankl toward transformation and writing his groundbreaking book, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Personal transformation begins by examining our stories; not just our narratives, but the heartfelt nature of how we respond to events and by recognizing the deeper themes and attitudes running through our lives. 

The best part is that it can start with one person. If Victor Frankl can change the destiny of people around him in the worst conditions—what can we do together in today’s environment? We certainly have many more freedoms than Victor did. Working together and collectively reshaping our attitudes and narratives strengthens our bonds and the human experience we share. By shifting perspectives and building stories of optimism and possibility, we actively create a better world around us.

Spotlight on Admissions Manager Tristan West, RN

New Position is Key to Central Referral Office Success

Reporting directly to Crossroads Senior Vice President of Operations Terri Doughty, Tristan West, RN, is Crossroads’ new Admissions Manager in the Central Referral Office.

A young Mom of three boys, one of them a brand-new baby, Tristan joined Crossroads last April as an Admissions Nurse in Dayton. Her positive impact in less than a year led to her promotion to the new centralized Admissions Manager position. 

Now all the Admissions Nurses and Registration Representatives at each site report to Tristan. The numbers are increasing. Tristan said the goal is for each of Crossroads’ six sites to have four Assessment Nurses and two or three Registration Representatives as soon as possible.

When it comes to supporting Assessment Nurses in their role, education is Tristan’s number one priority. She drives to educate her team and patients’ families on the fundamentals of hospice care and its benefits.

It’s no surprise that education is one of Tristan’s areas of focus. Tristan is a nurse educator who was most recently a member of the faculty at Wright State University’s School of Nursing where she taught health assessment. She left Wright State to join Crossroads.

At Crossroads Tristan is responsible for direct supervision of all site Assessment Nurses including reviewing documentation and approving evaluations and competencies. She is also responsible for all new and existing Assessment Nurse training and gathering and analyzing important data on both site and individual conversion rates and other metrics.

Families’ Input Matters

Even as an expert in health assessment and clinical documentation, Tristan is passionate about taking families' input into consideration when it comes to end-of-life care planning. 

“I’m finding that some nurses rely solely on clinical data,” Tristan explained. “But many times they are just looking at records and reports, including medical charts that can be very vague. That’s only a part of the assessment.” Assessments are not “only objectively based on data, assessments also incorporate subjective data based on what the family is telling us.” 

Tristan continued, “we’re there to give the family guidance but that means we have to know about disease processes and have the professional ability to have open conversations.” These topics are on Tristan’s education agenda moving forward.

For the moment as the Central Referral Office becomes established, Tristan expects that her team will have high impact on a more streamlined and efficient admissions process for Crossroads’ patients, their families and our referral partners. 

A Simple Grounding Technique to Calm Anxiety

Are you struggling with anxiety, feeling stressed out, or overwhelmed? We all do from time to time. Here's a simple grounding exercise that could be helpful. 

When you’re feeling anxious, try the following tips to bring yourself back to the present moment. Remember, in the present moment everything is OK:

• Take a look around your environment and pick out 5 things you can see. For example, pick a color and find five things that match that color.
• Close your eyes and name four things you can hear. Is the air conditioning blowing, are dogs barking outside, is your cat purring? Pay attention and name those things you hear around you.
• What are three things that you can touch or feel? Pick something up and really focus on the shape, weight, and texture. Or take off your shoes and socks and feel the floor beneath you.
• What do you smell in your environment? Is it a sweet-smelling candle or dinner in the oven? Concentrate on what you’re smelling in the moment.
• Name one thing you can taste. Take a sip of water or bite into an apple. Allow your sense of taste to bring you into the present moment. Remember that place where everything is OK? Yeah, let’s go there.

If you’re interested in reading more about this technique, you can check out this article.

Remember: you have access to My Benefits Work which offers free mental health services and telemedicine. Download the mobile app and register; and use it when you need it! It’s free!

Namaste, 

Emily