Is it ever okay to quit a nursing job without notice?

Is this quitting mid shift, or at the end of the shift?

You can't quit mid shift- that's abandonment- a whole different issue.

Most of the time, it is right to give two weeks notice, however, I also think that sometimes a nurse can be put in a very bad situation where there is real reason to be concerned for liability and in this situation, if you need to get out very quickly, at least a few days notice would be needed unless your board of nursing states otherwise. In a perfect world, a nurse would know right off the bat what they are getting into.

I quit a job after two shifts. I called from home and said I would not be back. So, I guess I gave one day notice.

I also quit a job at the end of my shift after several weeks orientation.

In both cases, the units were very disfunctional, pts didn't have a chance of getting good care, and mgmt didn't give a crap.

Not very professional of me, I know.
But, the situations were intolerable to me, and I chose not to tolerate them any longer.

only if you feel you are personally in danger. Otherwise quitting without notice seems just unfair to your coworkers because they are going to be picking up the slack.

It depends.. if your license is in danger, punch out at the end of the shift and don't look back. I quit a job without notice once to take a temp to perm.. only the temp to perm didn't work out after a week, so I basically shot myself in the butt... I will never do that again. I'll work out a 2 week notice unless it gets so unbearable I can't stay... OTOH, it's amazing how good you feel when you've turned in your 2 weeks and know you don't have to put up with that stuff anymore.

Once in a great while, even the most ethical and professional employee can run right smack into a situation in which s/he suddenly realizes, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that s/he cannot take one more day on that unit or that floor, and th-th-th-th-that's all folks, I'm outta here. No two weeks notice, no formalities---just turning away and never looking back.

It happened to me at my last hospital job. I'd been coming to terms with the idea of leaving anyway, being totally burned out from three years on Med/Surg and having developed something of a persecution complex at the hands of one assistant department manager in particular. But one day when I came in to work and was promptly called into this manager's office for yet another minor infraction of some obscure department policy, a tiny but very sure voice inside my head said: "Are you crazy?? Get the heck OUT of here!!!" I clocked out, turned in my badge, emptied my locker, told the staffing office that I was taking my last two weeks' FMLA leave, and left the building.

While I don't recommend this course of action to anyone, desperate times call for desperate measures. Ironically enough, not only did it not cost me in terms of marketability, I was even able to draw unemployment benefits because of the extreme stress that had caused me to quit my job.

Now, as a manager myself, I pay attention to signs that my staff is burning out.......I've given leaves of absence, changed schedules, gone to upper management to increase staffing, even worked the floor myself to give someone a break. It doesn't always work. But it's always worth trying---sometimes all an employee needs is to know that their feelings matter and that their manager sees them as a human being, not a machine. I think there'd be a lot fewer people who suddenly walk off the job, call in and quit, or just never show up for work again.

You know something? We are told that we are "at will" employees and the "hospital reserves the right to.....at any time with no warning...". So THEY can fire YOU without any notice and have security escort you out, but you cannot leave them? Of course you can! This 2 weeks notice thing is nothing but a courtesy. Most people leave a bad or toxic environment in nursing(or any job) mainly due to a lack of courtesy and decency on the employers part.
If you will get physically ill thinking of working even one more second in that place, leave.
BTW, my ex-manager just broke her contract and gave no notice. Guess what, she will have a new job soon I am sure of this.