I'm just devastated.

[EKS]

I am so sorry.

[Kanin]

I agree with others that your workplace failed you, not the other way around. I had no idea that sonography was such a crazy busy and stressful occupation. Is it like that everywhere, or just urban hospitals? Ugh. So sorry. It sounds like you were put into a situation where you didn't get the training, supervision, and feedback that you should have received. 

[Kanin]

I  was fired from a job once. Like you, I was totally shocked. I knew there were things I had to improve on, but I had no idea that they were considering letting me go. My boss was surprised that I was surprised at the news. He said, "I should have made it more clear that your job was in jeopardy unless you got better at X, Y, and Z."

And I was like... Yes, you should have! Thanks for having this realization now 🙄

Aren't hospitals having lots of staff shortages? You'd think that mentoring and supporting new staff to retain them would be a priority. Maybe they're just too busy to do that.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Kanin

[Mothersweets]

I'm so sorry (((hugs)))

[fraidycat]

I'm so sorry.

[Dmmetler]

(((hugs))) 

This absolutely stinks, and yes, I think it's a them problem, too-they didn't do their part. 

[Mona]

This is heartbreaking to read. Praying for you and the right opportunity to come your way.

 

[mommyoffive]

I am so sorry that happened to you.  I hope you find a job that is a good fit for you.

[*****]

I'm so sorry, I know this is so hard. Take a deep breath and time for yourself. You really worked hard, especially in taking it seriously how to improve in  certain areas of your career. So sad they didn't see this. Where 1 door closes, another opens...praying for you in the meantime.

[dirty ethel rackham]

21 hours ago, Frances said:

I’m so very sorry. My husband is in healthcare and it can be brutal and so many managers just suck. I really hope a wonderful opportunity comes your way very soon. I so admired your courage and determination in going back to school and starting a new career. You are in my thoughts during this very difficult time. 

I think my immediate manager was one of the better ones, but she was a general tech and couldn't assess the quality of my work (vascular) nor could she advise me much on how to do my scans better.  I don't think she communicated well to my fellow tech that she was supposed to be reviewing my scans and mentoring me. But it was her boss is the one who talks down to people.  She was the one who talked to me about some of my bad scans because she had vascular experience.  She was an excellent tech, but a sucky manager. She was the one who did all the talking in the review.  Nobody in the department likes her.  

[dirty ethel rackham]

21 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

I’m so very sorry! It sounds like you need to find a position that offers more support and training BEFORE you dive into everything. Does that exist in your field? That could’ve been be at one of my jobs; I ended up quitting first. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. There was not enough training for me. 

I think they assumed that with my 18 months experience in a vascular surgery office that I wouldn't need much mentoring on my technical skills.  I don't think I needed a lot ... but someone going over every type of scan and showing me what their standards were would have been helpful.  If they could have done this in the first month (which they were supposed to do), I think I would have been better.  But this hospital environment was really overwhelming and I did make some mistakes.  

[dirty ethel rackham]

21 hours ago, Halftime Hope said:

I'm so very sorry.  I'm right there with you with demoralization at being let go from something you've put your heart into. The details are different; the end result is similar.

This situation/circumstances don't sound like a good match for your strengths and for any kind of job one would want to work at. I know what that's like; I narrowly escaped that two years ago, and yet here we are again, having to start over. 

Just please know that you are not alone in this; you, I, and others are experiencing the same dystopic situation. The people and circumstances were stacked against you, and you need a different spot in which to flourish and to be exactly the kind of excellent human you are cut out to be: kind, thoughtful, allowed the time to do an excellent job, and allowed the margin to care for patients as well.

Wishing you the best as you regroup!

 

 

 

Thank you.  I'm not sure that job exists in this current climate.  I feel like my prior job didn't value excellence over speed ... did I answer the clinical question or not?  Who cares if the image is textbook perfect?  I tend to want to make the image perfect and that slows me down.  And this job expected both speed and textbook images  The other tech was excellent.  Just too busy to mentor me when she was supervising a student. She taught me a lot about how to do the job, but I don't feel like we worked as a team.  She would do her thing and not talk to me about how to tackle the day, but expect me to know just what I should do without knowing what she had in mind.

[dirty ethel rackham]

21 hours ago, Scarlett said:

I am so  so sorry.  What a blow. 

Can you get by with not working? You are very close to retirement.

Also, ageism is a very real thing. 

While I the money isn't essential, it is helpful in saving for retirement.  But, I really have no life.  We are empty nesters. Most of my friends distanced themselves from me when K got sick and came out as trans.  With my kids getting older and more independent and going away to college, we didn't have those regular homeschool things in common and they stopped including me in their lives and I was barely hanging on during crisis mode and couldn't do all the work to maintain friendships.  I lost my church family.  Most of my FOO were too busy with their lives to give a crap about me ... I was too much of a bummer on their fun party life.  I literally had no one to talk to but my husband for weeks on end.  I tried other jobs but resented the crappy hours and low pay and lack of respect.  I tried volunteering but I just didn't feel enough connection to the place or people to make it less optional and I was so depressed that I needed "not optional" in order to leave my house.  

And, yes, ageism is a thing.  I didn't tell anyone at this job how old I was - people tell me I look a lot younger than I am.  (My joints will tell you otherwise.)  

[dirty ethel rackham]

21 hours ago, MercyA said:

I am so sorry. Huge hugs to you. I know it feels awful right now, but this does not define you. ❤️

 

12 hours ago, Just Kate said:

I’m so sorry. Like MercyA said above, this does not define you (I have to remind myself of this often).  I will be praying that a door opens for you and you find the perfect position that allows you to flourish. 

Thanks.  I really needed to hear that.  I've been struggling with identity since my youngest began moving away from homeschooling to more time at public school and her graduating high school.  I had worked myself out of the "mom" job, out of the "homeschooler" job.  Who am I?  What am I doing here?

[dirty ethel rackham]

20 hours ago, Kalmia said:

I am sorry the system wasn't able to recognize your dedication to learning. It seems (I am in my 50s) that workplace of all types (and especially medical) have changed for the worse since I was in my 20s and 30s. With computer technology came the ability to constantly surveil and measure every action of employees, instead of seeing, in the older way, workers as part of the workplace family. Corporations are now legally allowed to put the shareholder's profits above all else, and thus are allowed to quite literally poke and squeeze every bit of effort out of every employee to line their pockets. The speed at which things are processed is one of the many ways the shareholders make more money. Another is to hire fewer employees than are necessary to do the job. This efficiency and monitoring and maximization of profit at the expense of the worker (and the customer!) is affecting all jobs from doctor to supermarket cashier. I am so sorry it affected you. I also worry how it will harm the younger generation just entering a workforce in which every second will be monitored and controlled. 

I hope you can find a job or workplace that has respect for people and does not treat them as machines.

 

I do think the assembly line and productivity goals mentality is harming the workplace.  I know that I wasn't the fastest person.  But I'm a curious, deeper thinking person.  With the time constraints, I don't feel like I did my best.   But they had these productivity goals for everyone.  And only half of the techs were meeting those goals.  And my particular specialty had much longer exams so it was really hard to meet those goals.  The other vascular tech wasn't meeting them either.  Having a student meant that she had more work in supervising them, but she also was able to take credit for the student's scans since she was reviewing them and completing them.  When the student had more experience, she was able to do 1.5-2 times the number of exams as me and she still wasn't making the goals either. 

I don't know if this unicorn job exists that plays to my strengths.  I feel like that is from a bygone era.  

[footballmom]

I’m really sorry to hear about this experience, I pray a better working solution emerges from this that values ALL of your skills and specialness.

[dirty ethel rackham]

13 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

I’m sorry. That’s hard and I think by the time a manager reaches that spot, it shouldn’t be a surprise. 😞 They should have laid out specific quantitative goals and also created a plan for you to improve in areas they felt additional training was needed. They did a poor job helping you understand what they wanted and how to get there. I’m so sorry. 

Precisely.  I thought I was making progress on the productivity goals and getting much closer to the other tech.  Even though these goals were quantifiable, only half of the techs meet them regularly and the other tech wasn't so I was under the impression that improvement was working in my favor.  I also didn't realize that my mistakes weren't really learning experiences but black marks to be tallied. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

11 hours ago, pinball said:

I’m really sorry. You’ve been through so much and you need things to break your way.

I’ve heard techs are in demand. I think you’ve learned a lot about what you need and where you’d fit in well. Maybe try to frame it that way? And emphasize what YOU need in a workplace/employer vs what they can give you.

But first, just take care of yourself. They shouldn’t have walked you out like that. It’s not a reflection of you; it’s just a dehumanizing policy. As for people not reaching out…they probably don’t know how to handle it. Again, not a reflection of you.

I’m sorry again

Yeah, techs are in demand.  But most of the positions available are hospital positions where I'd have to have rotating shifts with weekends or work 2nd shift.  I did a lot of that.  I could have kept that if call hadn't been so abusive and if I had more overlap with other techs rather than working alone. Clinic jobs can have better hours, but some of them have really, really unrealistic volume, which would likely lead to musculoskeletal injuries from overuse.  Plus, I feel like those places value volume over quality.  I had a scan from a place like that.  Out of curiosity, I got a copy of my exam to look at and was appalled at the quality. I was a cooperative patient who could position properly and hold my breath and I had done the proper prep so it should have been a decent scan.  That would have gotten me a D or an F if I had done that at school.  

10 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I have no idea about pay but my private practice obgyn office has a person who travels to different obgyn to do the ultrasounds for them. He says he likes his job, little stress and has time for his kids. 
Take a break first though before job hunting. Former co-workers may honestly not know what to say to you and so is keeping quiet. 

I really don't want to do OB.  I think I was the only one in my class who wasn't drawn to this field to "scan babies."  It was OK as one thing on the menu, but I wouldn't want to do it day after day.  

I am taking some time to think things over and catch up on stuff I had been neglecting due to my commute.

[Not_a_Number]

I'm really sorry. That's so disappointing. 

[East Coast Sue]

Oh dear, you are not a failure. I’m angry on your behalf that you were set up to be let go. So unfair. I’ve been in a similar situation and even now I’m feeling some very similar sentiments about my job. I wish I could give you a hug or meet up for lunch or a walk at a park. Really. You’re so brave and determined. I admire you. 

[Tap]

(((( huggs))))

[Kareni]

My sympathies, @dirty ethel rackham. I hope that your thinking time will be beneficial and that better days are ahead.

Regards,

Kareni

[sbgrace]

I'm so sorry. I have walked this road with two family members, both to different degrees. The things you describe feeling (just sharing here seems so brave to me...) are so much what I heard then from my loved ones too. 

I wish you had been set up to succeed. I wish you weren't hurting. I'm sorry.