I lost my job because I helped someone. I was a registered nurse at a dermatology clinic and when I showed up for work a few days ago, there was a young girl (mid-20s) parked across three spots in our office parking lot. The front end of her car was crushed and the soundproofing underneath was completely dragging. I knocked on her window to check on her. She said she wasn’t injured, but when I asked what her plan was, since she was just sitting there parked across multiple spot, she told me she didn't have a phone or any contacts to call. I thought that was strange, but offered to call a tow truck for her. She gave me her AAA card. She was very calm, but I could tell something was off. She clearly needed help and didn’t seem completely "with it"; she was somewhat catatonic. I became worried. She was all alone, had just crashed her car, her license plate was from Connecticut and my clinic is located in Maryland, and she had no way to contact anyone. I wondered if maybe she was a missing person and her family was looking for her. She declined an ambulance or police, but I called the non-emergency police line anyway just to let them know. They came, spoke to her briefly, did absolutely nothing, and left. Using her name from the AAA card, I looked up her information to see if I could find any family to contact. I actually managed to get ahold of her brother. He told me their family had been desperately looking for her for two solid weeks. He immediately patched in their father, and the family was so tearful and happy that she had finally been found. Her parents were leaving immediately to come down, but it was going to take them about 5 hours. They were terrified about where she would wander off to by the time they arrived, especially since the tow truck was taking her car up to Baltimore. I called the non-emergency police line back to give them the update and see if they could keep her in a safe place until her family arrived. They refused, saying she was an adult and had declined their help. They were super gruff, abrupt, and rubbed both of us the wrong way, so I understood why she didn’t want anything to do with them. I was given a card for the Crisis Action Team, but when I called, she wouldn't speak to them on the phone or say whether she'd accept help, so they stated they couldn't do anything either. After the police left, I asked her if she would be willing to go to the hospital just to get checked out and make sure she was okay. I told her it would be really good for her and I was just concerned for her. She agreed, so I made sure she was taken to the local hospital located about 5 minutes away. I informed her family exactly where she was and that she had told the front check in she was willing to accept treatment. During all of this, I told the Mohs surgeon that I was working with what was going on. I updated her earlier in the morning and updated her after the young lady was taken to the hospital. I apologized for not being around to do my normal duties, but the surgeon told me it was "good" the young woman got help and said, "Don’t even worry about it. Everything here has been fine." I also spoke with my Mohs technicians team individually and as a group to apologize for being gone most of the morning. They told me that while a small portion of the morning got a little busy, they were completely fine and not upset at all. Even the tow truck drivers were incredibly patient and kind. The main driver actually called me the next day to see how everything went. He was absolutely shocked to find out I lost my job over this. He told me I was amazing with her, that my workplace made a terrible decision to lose me, and joked that we should start a task force to go out and help people. He even told me if I ever needed a tow, it was on the house. But one of the things that got me into the most trouble with administration, besides being occupied outside, was that I let her use the restroom inside our clinic. My CEO told me this was a major "liability." She said someone who was mentally unstable could have hurt someone in the building or done something in the bathroom. I never would have brought someone into the office who seemed to be a danger to anyone else, and I didn't feel that I should deny a human being a basic function like using the bathroom. But I was told it was not a public facility and that I made "everyone" feel uncomfortable. The worst part? The CEO is also a registered nurse. And this isn't even some massive corporation where you can blame corporate red tape; this is a privately owned dermatology office. Once I was relieved of my duties, I apologized to the front desk staff and other coworkers. I told them it was never my intent to put them in an awkward situation. The staff told me they never felt any negative feelings at all, and several told me I absolutely did the right thing by helping her. I became a nurse because I truly believe in helping people. I saw someone who needed help, so I helped. Unfortunately, her crisis didn't come at a convenient time, and I suppose according to management, we should have rescheduled her emergency for a more convenient slot. I just hate that as medical workers, my leaders didn't care to understand or help someone in need. They pay lip service to caring about people and patients, but expected me to turn the other cheek because she wasn't a paying client. Then they acted disappointed in me. The CEO told me she was "surprised" by my actions and couldn't believe I would do such a thing. They tried to make me feel like a bad person because I actually cared. Well, you know what? I'm more upset that she'd be surprised by my actions than realizing who I actually am. I will help people even when it isn't "convenient." People matter, even when they have mental health issues that everyone else wants to ignore. I don't want to work for an organization that doesn't truly care about humanity. I shouldn't be ashamed. They should feel ashamed. It sucks losing a job that I genuinely enjoyed, but if my moral and ethical compass is offensive to them, those aren't the type of people I want to be associated with anyway. Even the tow truck driver cared more than my own CEO. Amazing. TLDR: I arrived at my nursing shift at a privately owned dermatology clinic in Maryland to find a disoriented woman parked across three spots in a moderately damaged car. After tracing her name from a AAA card, I discovered she had been missing from Connecticut for two weeks; her desperate family was 5 hours away. I spent the morning keeping her safe, coordinating a tow, and getting her to a hospital ER for treatment. Even though clinical staff and the surgeon said workflow wasn't compromised, the clinic CEO—who is also a Registered Nurse—fired me. The reason? It was a "workplace liability" because I let a "mentally unstable" missing person use our restroom.   submitted by   /u/Any_Reporter_8421 [link]   [comments]