Would you rather listen instead? Click here for the 12-minute audio recording.
The last couple of years for me has been a time of refinement and change. Closing my patient advocacy of 10 years, relocating, and resuming a solo practice has resulted in a feeling of going full circle. Some things have changed yet the core principles remained the same.
I no longer have an agency to promote or operations to manage, there are no personnel management nor decisions about software and tools that enabled our small but mighty team to be a lean mean efficient machine. No more invoicing (I am smiling about that last one).
There is simply me, and you. And a whole lotta need for advocacy, education, outreach and solution.
Amidst all the transition I have realized that Triage is my jam!
What is meant when I say ‘Triage’, and how or why am I good at it?
The definition of triage reads “the preliminary assessment of patients or casualties in order to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.’
The term triage comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate out or to sort. It was first used for medical purposes during World War I, when it referred to the way medics prioritized the treatment of soldiers wounded in battle.
You might associate the term triage with that done in emergency rooms, or in disaster response, when limited medical resources must be allocated to maximize the number of survivors. Many of us saw Hawkeye perform triage on the tv show MASH, or we have seen it on shows like ER Chicago Med.
Whether in medical care, war, or natural disaster, decisions are made so as to get the best outcome. Not so very different from the work in patient advocacy. Patient advocates are assessors, planners, and make-it-happen innovators.
I am sharing that in my years I have come to realize that Triage is my jam.
Professionally, triage in my case refers to what I am receiving, perceiving, and assessing how you as a client are presenting: to me, to your loved ones, and the world.
The performance of triage also means I am thinking several steps ahead, steps of which you may not be aware. I am good at this, really good. And I love doing it.
I treasure having the ability to assess. I thrive upon opportunities to use my skills and experience to help folks to begin, just to start, or to sort through the noise or the overwhelm and to gain some direction.
Here’s what begins to happen when I and a client are working together. In just one hour:
- I help discern what needs your attention, now and later.
- There is an educational component.
- Clarity brings priority.
- The path is illuminated, and an order to things
- We have a loose plan.
It’s good stuff! This my friends, is the “Out of The Problem and Into the Solution” -stuff that I hold so dear.
I really enjoy those ‘first calls’, calls from folks seeking services or callers who do not yet know what they need; they just “need” and they know it.
Early Development – Building Triage Skills
I don’t know precisely how such a precise skill came about but looking back in my life I developed a keen ability to size up people and situations. More than just basic level “Friend or Foe?’, the perception of safety or threat, I can read people and situations better than many.
Some of my first memories of being able to do that came in family life. I got pretty good at family dynamics, like observing what mood Dad was in when he arrived home from work (which determined how our evening would go in the Ruffner household!). I was observant about spoken and unspoken word, mood, mannerisms, body language, tone, all of it. I then learned to apply this kind of observation to lots of personal and professional situations.
Ad you may know I pursued social work as my undergrad study. The application of observing behavior dovetailed into the social work curriculum. There we learned formal assessment, and building rapport. As for building rapport, well, if you’ve gone through any School of Social Work you will come away with a snoot full of training on how to do that and to effectively communicate.
I actually sat for or underwent my first video training in that curriculum. It was the late 1970’s. I have no fear, ha ha.
Early in my working career I remember some really cool training during my stint in inside sales. In our training intensive we as trainees were played five seconds of audio from a caller. In the audio a caller would begin to lodge their inquiry. With only those five seconds trainees were then expected to respond with the caller’s level of urgency or lack thereof, their timing or cadence, manner, and their volume. We had to match it so as to open the door to building rapport.
All of this helped to ready me today, I am the person that can talk to anybody. I’m the person that will speak to people in an elevator, or in the grocery store line. Moreover, I will notice (and likely will ask) if ever help is needed. With that came approachability. Still, to me, there was another level to achieve. .
I want the other person to feel heard. I want the other to be welcomed, and to become comfortable.
When I was growing up our family moved a lot. We’d move about every four years when my father would be recruited for his Human Resources expertise in startups. Moving a lot when I was young, being inserted into new schools and new situations seemed to instill in me a kind of chameleon capability. After being the new person so many times and experiencing that uneasiness I will now and forever go out of my way to be the person that welcomes the new person. …and I brought that into my patient advocacy.
You have heard me express this. You’ve heard me say many times
“If I could just prevent one person from feeling that kind of anxiety, the anxiety of being the new person or of not knowing how stuff works or what to do…
If I could help one person know the right questions to ask or the next step to take,
If I could give them the words or shine a light on exactly what they must focus to head toward solution, or
If I could instill some hope, and confidence, then I must do that. “
Triage Is My Jam also, in that I can make that First time or Fifth Time Caller know that there IS a solution. That they are taking the right action. There is a solution, and I’ve got the client stories to back that claim up. It’s easy for me to be and sound assured and to convey that because it’s 100% true, and therein lies authenticity.
I love triage” the welcome, the exchange, the relief, the path that unfolds, all of it. Because of all that, I’ve made triage the focus of my services.
I have rejigged on the consulting side of my business. I now offer ONE HOUR consultations exclusively.
In just ONE HOUR I can
- Triage your situation, resulting in recommendations and resources.
- Engage in Q&A with you, an informational & educational exchange.
- Deliver a Deeper Dive session into a particular topic (for ex: navigating healthcare, all about housing, legal documents to be sure you have, starting difficult conversations, or responding to challenges found in solo aging).
I Believe
- Not all clients NEED to sign up for ongoing services, visits, invoices, and all the commitment that traditional engagement of a patient advocate or strategist entails.
- Plenty of folks need help to problemsolve (yep, we are makin’ it a verb, y’all)
I Want To
- Get to work, with you.
- Eliminate the “how-long-is-this-gonna-take-and-what-will-it-cost-me” ANXIETY.
- Get you past the stuck or stymied and onto a path toward solution.
Triage Is My Jam, indeed! (In deed).
Contact me via my website, nancyruffner.com, or email me at nancy@nancyruffner.com if I may be of service to you or someone you love.
I hope that something I have said today has provoked your thought (and spurs action!) and helps you to move more comfortably forward into the future.
Nancy Ruffner is a patient advocate whose focuses include aging strategy, healthcare navigation, and solo aging. Nancy consults with clients in a triage fashion, offering one-hour consultations to find a path, gain a deeper understanding of “how stuff works” in eldercare, or specifically problem-solve. Schedule your Power Hour now, without obligation of commitment or continuing costs. nancyruffner.com