I'm panicking! Now I can't resign!

[perfexion]

After much soul searching I decided to quit my cushy staff job to pursue travel nursing. I wrote a very thoughtful letter of resignation and slipped it under my boss' door. I read online that it's not thoughtful to resign via email. My last day is October 1st and my first assignment starts on October 7th, (my flight to my assignment leaves on the 4th). I have been waiting for my boss to contact me about something, anything by now! I decided to reach out to her, and after a dozen unreturned phone calls and emails, I just found out she's been out for 3 weeks so she never got my letter (I work night shift so I go weeks without seeing my boss). She's scheduled to return on Monday but by then it'll be too late for a proper notice. What do I do now?

[Mulan]

It sounds like there was nothing else you could have done, if she's gone for 3+ weeks.

[4boysmama]

where the heck do you work that a manager can take a 3+ weeks long vacation?! I've never heard of such a thing anywhere in healthcare!

[duskyjewel]

So apparently I can totally quit without my boss even knowing. I just have to send in my letter of resignation to HR and have the director of nursing sign some papers. That basically means that my boss will come back to work on Wednesday to find that I'm gone. For some reason that doesn't sit well with me but I guess it has to be done this way.

That is your employer's fault for not adequately covering such a long absence. Do what you need to do for yourself and your career. Trust me, they would take care of their own needs at whatever cost to you and lose no sleep over it.

[perfexion, ASN, RN]

Update: My boss came back today and immediately called me in for a meeting. I didn't tell her i was leaving for a travel job. She didn't ask and I'm not bringing it up. She respects the fact that my reason is personal. But she saw my hesitance and she convinced me to go per diem. I'm taking a 13 week LOA first (which was my idea so I can take this first travel assignment) and then I'm going to go per diem since i already handed in termination paperwork. I'll see how this goes. If I like traveling I'll resign for real (the proper way). If I don't like it, at least I have somewhere to come back to.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Update: My boss came back today and immediately called me in for a meeting. I didn't tell her i was leaving for a travel job. She didn't ask and I'm not bringing it up. She respects the fact that my reason is personal. But she saw my hesitance and she convinced me to go per diem. I'm taking a 13 week LOA first (which was my idea so I can take this first travel assignment) and then I'm going to go per diem since i already handed in termination paperwork. I'll see how this goes. If I like traveling I'll resign for real (the proper way). If I don't like it, at least I have somewhere to come back to.

Hopefully this results in a very amicable arrangement for both you and your employer.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

In the future, always resign IN PERSON and you won't have to worry about this kind of stuff. I resigned from my hospital job after a night shift. I told my manager I needed to talk to her after report, went in her office, told her I felt it was time to move on and handed her my resignation letter.