Well, apparently I made a social networking faux pas last week that cost me my job. Let me explain further....
I've been working at a local emergency and specialty veterinary hospital since we moved here in June. I have had a very hard time at this place for numerous reasons. I haven't agreed with the way the hospital is ran. They have no administration or "management" on site which made it difficult to have anything resolved. Everything was communicated through e-mails which is not effective. Hardly any staff meeting to collaborate as a functional team (wait, what functional team?). There are many staff members that are hostile. Some of the doctors didn't treat support staff with respect. The place is over ran with unexperienced technicians that do not have proper or adequate training or supervision. And regardless of the hospital creed, patients and clients were not always treated with respect. All in all, it was a toxic and stressful place to work. I had tried in the past to go to administration and management with my concerns, but after the first couple of times with no real fix, I gave up. And due to this I myself became toxic and turned into a person I didn't like.
However, I did meet some great people whom I hope to continue to have relationships with. And that is the only thing that kept me going for as long as I did.
Last week I was disrespected by one of the receptionist. I had problems with her over the last few weeks I had worked with her and had about had it with the hospital, staff, everything. I updated my Facebook status out of frustration and management took it as a physical threat towards another staff member. I never said which staff member the status update was about and anyone who knows me, actually knows me, knows that I would never hurt or seriously threaten anyone unless I was in danger. I guess you could say I was in danger of losing myself and my mind.
Ultimately I think they just needed an excuse to terminate my employment. They didn't talk to me about the incident first or question me about the situation, they just took it upon themselves to assume something negative about me and use it to their advantage. That I feel was disrespectful. I was the best ER/Triage technician assistant they had and instead of managing their staff and hospital appropriately, I lost my job.
Now, some of you may be asking: Krysten, did you learn something from this? Absolutely. I learned to limit your work related comments on Facebook (I won't do that anymore, trust me). I also learned to trust people less unless they prove to you they are trustworthy. I took away valuable lessons from the work place as well.
I still have mixed feelings about it.... frustration, betrayal, happiness and a sense of freedom from that place. It never feels good to be fired, regardless of the circumstance, so I'm upset about that. I'm also upset that this could come back to haunt me. And I know my reputation will be tarnished, but I have to let that go. But the only thing I know is that I'm a good and honest person and I did my job well.
In this technological driven age, it is now becoming apparent that words are speaking louder than actions. Online bullying, employers using social networking, etc. etc. So my only advice is to be a little more cautious of what comes flying off your keyboard, whether you mean it or not. Whether you're justified or not. Whether you feel your voice isn't being heard and the only way you can be heard is by shouting though your computer screen.
