Charlene Bennett, RN, MS Patient Care Manager (Staff)
Charlene has been a UCSF employee since 1991 and OUT for forty years, and just completed a Master’s Degree from the UCSF School of Nursing this past June. Charlene serves the missions of UCSF as Nurse Manager for the Orthopedic Surgery and Neuro/Ortho Spine Surgery services. She is in charge of 40 staff, including RNs, surgical technicians and service coordinators, and is responsible for providing trained staff teams for 14 surgeons. Her staff are all involved in direct patient care and Charlene’s job is to assure that the care provided is safe and efficient.
What she likes about working at UCSF
I find working at a teaching hospital very exciting, and I love working with students.
Work Address:
505 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco CA 94117
How Charlene is OUT, IN the UCSF Community
I’ve been out for the last 16 years since starting in the Moffit/Long Operating Room department, and for the last 10 years I’ve worked on the same unit with my partner of 20 years. I’ve also done the AIDS Ride twice.
How Charlene is OUT, IN the community
I’m out in my neighborhood, and everywhere I go in the city.
What she considers her most OUTstanding, INcredible achievement
Starting graduate school full-time in 2005, working full-time, having open knee surgery, accepting a promotion to a manager position, selling and buying a house in 30 days, and graduating on June 8, 2007, with honors. All in less than 2 years!
Her role models
My mother, a strong, independent women who received her bachelors degree in teaching when it was rare for black women to go to school. She also effectively raised five children independently, and made the decision to move the family from New York to New Jersey in order to buy a house. These and many other key decisions made by my mother have shaped my life and made me the person I am today.
How Charlene would change UCSF to improve the quality of life for LGBT people
It would be safer for upper management in the Medical Center to feel good about coming out. Several people still live “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
How she would change the community at large to improve the quality of life for LGBT people
Same-sex marriage must be legalized.
Audio: Charlene (Charlie) Bennett and Erika Grace are long-term partners, both of whom work in Operating Room Nursing. Here, they talk with Visibility Project members about the challenges to being out within various segments of the USCF community, and the ways in which some teams create a sense of safety for their LGBT members.
In their second clip, Erika and Charlie talk about the split between the Medical Center and Med School sides of UCSF. They also describe the cultural changes they have witnessed over their nearly ten years with UCSF.
