abandonment

Abandonment is a term that is usually used in a one time situation. You accept responsibility for a shift at the hospital or LTC facility but walk off the job after an hour and a half without giving report to a relieving nurse, or you are working a night shift with a home health extended care client and walk out the front door, locking it behind you, two hours before your shift is due to end without informing anyone else in the home and giving them a report before leaving. Quitting your job with your agency without two weeks notice may get you a "do not rehire" notation in your personnel file, but it is not abandonment per se; unless, of course, you reported for duty with your regularly scheduled client and walked out the door without doing anything you are supposed to do regarding that client.

Two weeks notice is considered a "nicety" from times past in states where "employment at will" is the law. Find out from your labor board if you work in an "at will" state and that will give you your answer about whether you quit your job in the correct manner. You can avoid the "do not rehire" onus by always providing your employer with a written letter of resignation, no matter how many days notice you provide. They can't say they fired you when you have a written record of how the employment relationship ended.