I think I was blackballed out of my career by a BAD employer

If someone can help me with this I would appreciate it. Not sure where to go or what to do about this as well. I busted my tail to get through school a couple of years ago. I was working on my associates degree in Applied Science with a Major in Surgical Technology. During this time, I had to do externships for this and had chosen to go to a hospital in Northern Michigan for the majority of the 20 week externship. During the time I was there, I was treated very disrespectfully by the crew and this was allowed for some reason, including an incident where a preceptor slapped my hand. Even through all that, they still wanted me after I graduated from college. Against my beter judgement I went back there to work as an employee. Working as a surgical tech is a difficult enough job without the harrassment of other techs, but this was continuously allowed. The backstabbing, the gossip and the arrogant attitudes among the staff made working for this company absolutely horrendous! As time wore on, I was definitly thinking about leaving on my own to pursue another hospital...till...an incident involving a surgeon who didnt follow protocol on a case where a needle wasnt found and an incompetant RN circulator who didnt get on the ball and call Xray as soon as possible and the XRAY department that MISSED the needle till we were already closed! 3 screwups on their part...I demanded the surgeon stop, I told the RN 3 times to call for xray and was ignored. So...after all that....no one asked for a meeting...not my manager, not the RN...no one. There is always supposed to be a meeeting when an event happens like that....well, needless to say...I WAS BLAMED FOR THE WHOLE THING...No one asked me what happened...I was just taken into the office and told I was back on probationary period with a preceptor again. I accepted this....and said..ok, well I will do this as long as no one knows what is going on. they agreed to that...by the next day....EVERY ONE IN THE OR KNEW. What happened to right to privacy? For the next 3 months, I was harrassed by other coworkers to the point that I went home crying most of the time, went back on antidepressants, and didnt want be there anymore. My boss was receiving bs lies for other staff that had issues with me from the beginning and in the end was told it would be best if I just simply quit. So, frankly...I did. I went to HR complaining about it and they did nothing but recommend that I see the hospital counselor...in other words...i was crazy! I had had enough! Since that time, I havnt been able to work as a surgicl tech since. I have had a couple interviews , but it has been over a year~No one wants to hire me and I think I may have been blackballed from my job that I worked so hard for. I graduated at the top of my class with a 3.76 GPA....im not stupid by any means! Im not sure exactly what I can do about this...but please...if any of you know what I can do about this...please let me know. Do I need a lawer, where do I go from here????? Im homeless now, living with my mother. Lost my home, my car.....EVERYTHING. My direct email is redindia2@yahoo.com.....any advise would be helpful!

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labtech (12/12/2009) Proving you are being blackballed is hard. You'll need to find a lawyer who will take a cut of the award, not one you have to pay up front, and it will be a very long and painful battle to try to get awards out of them - because they will lie like rugs, and documents may even be falsified to make your case look worse. It may be that you will have to scrap your career and start over, or simply wait for the main blackballer to drop dead, which is what I had to do. Maybe you can volunteer your services at a vet clinic in order to get a recommendation for a real job, if you want to stick with the career. Either way, it is not going to be easy, but this is something a young person can recover from, in time. Old Nurse (12/13/2009) I also think you were blackballed out of this position. However, since you are not able to handle the stress of the job and the aftermath, I would suggest a job in a vets office or perhaps a dentist. Look into ortho, rehab, try a nursing home. I am not coming down on you for falling apart but it appears you cannot handle stress and I know it can get really, really bad. Good luck. sphincter detector (12/21/2009) The medical community as it relates to Hospitals and Surgeons is a very corrupt entity. Because of the financial implications of malpractice etc.. no one's going to volunteer to highlight or formalize the kinds of gross neglect situations you described. If you try going to the College of Physicians and Surgeons to complain...no one will beleive you or take your side. Doctors stick together and the College does not like to have it's insurance premiums increased for payouts. It happens all the time, they do documentaries about it on W5 and CNN all the time. You're always hearing about some douchebag Attending that left a sponge or scissors inside of a gastric bypass patient and the poor guy dies of scepticemia 2 weeks later. If you try to be a hero you'll get yourself pegged as a blabber mouth or a shit disturber you'll be blackmarked and no one will hire you. This is not Greys Anatomy, it's real life and this type of corruption is not a myth. It's going to take more than an eager beaver college grad to change this organization. It's so much bigger than one person - It takes a public outcry and media focus. So unless you want to start a very public protest in front of your local government office and maybe get some press for it, you are an unfortunate casualty of this industry. I've worked very closely to this industry and have seen it first hand many times. I agree with the other comments here, try to get into a vet's office or some other kind of practice with 6 degrees of separation , where the long arm of Hypocratic Union can't find or reach you.. I know this sounds defeatist, but a good general only goes to war if he knows he can win. Fact of life. Be wise and understand the game and know the rules. POST A COMMENT »