Did I overreacted? Cried in front of a patient and whole team 😔

I’m a new dental assistant, working in this office about 1 month and a half, yesterday I had a very uncomfortable situation at work.

While I was working at the front desk helping a patient, a hygienist came up to me and rudely said, in front of the patient, that I hadn’t cleaned her operatory properly the night before and that there was blood on the light and kept calling me to check her light while her patient was in the room.

I felt humiliated and caught off guard. I tried to stay professional, but later I ended up crying because I was overwhelmed and embarrassed.

Instead of understanding, she said she didn’t understand why I was crying, that there was no need for it, and that the dental field is high pressure and you have to deal with it. She also implied that if someone can’t handle this, they might be in the wrong profession.

Now I feel ashamed for crying and worried about how this made me look.

Did I overreact, or was my reaction understandable given the situation?