Moved up to the “Big City” in October. Today I was fired by a woman with a smile on her face.
My biggest complaints were being isolated from my peers, not having enough work to do, and not receiving feedback on my work performance directly.
I was accused of working outside of scope, not being able to separate my personal feelings from work, and not responding to doctors in a timely fashion. No specific or documented instances of any of these accusations were provided to me.
So now I’m alone, in a way more expensive city, with about the same amount it cost to move here left in the bank.
I think I’m done with healthcare. As a trans person, working inside of it is fucking awful, especially in large hospital organizations. I don’t think it helps I graduated from nursing school in 2020.
What now? This was my dream job, at an organization (I thought) had their shit together. It was a nightmare on the inside - no support, no community. Call staff couldn’t “handle” trans patients, so we have to call a separate line that might have someone call you back.
I came up with so many ideas, ways to improve, best practices we aren’t following. Patients getting dead named and misgendered in charts, at the pharmacy, to their face. Asleep in the OR during surgery.
I’ve never been more confused about a job ending. I literally said I would do anything, work overtime, adapt my style, learn 6 different specialties, anything I could to help.
They never even listened to me. Why did they bring me all this way just to ignore me?
The worst part, I think, is that I don’t know if I will ever really trust another human the same way. I thought this was a safe place where I could talk openly about what was deficient, and how to alleviate that. But I did that, and they didn’t want to hear it, and now I’m on my own again.
I really thought we could build something truly special. I guess I’m just disappointed I’ll never get a chance to see what that could have been.
Take this as a learning experience. Approach your work with professionalism, not passion. Keep your head down, complete your job duties, and go home. The time+place for pitching ideas is only when you’re asked by someone higher up.
It sucks, but that’s how you stay employed and climb the ladder. Crushing passions for the American dream.
Not that what you’re saying isn’t true, but I don’t really know if we should promote complacency in the face of discrimination in the workplace? OP has already expressed their pursuit of legal action against the people who discriminated against them.
I’ve clawed my way from homelessness to the top 10%, and it took me way too many times in OP’s shoes to learn that the best way to get ahead in one’s career is to get in line. That leaves plenty of time and energy outside of the workplace to pursue passions and try to change the world to become a better place. Work is just a means to afford that.
Now a chunk of my income every month goes directly to an organization that helps local transfolks get access to HRT and other gender-affirming care. That’s far more impactful than anything I could have hoped to accomplish in my workplace.
Succeed in work first, then succeed in life.
