Anyone finish shift and not return to job?

control · Apr 14, 2006

During one of my clinical rotations, a head nurse told me that she walked off a job because of nurse-patient ratio. She stated that she just refused to put her license on the line anymore in such an unsafe environment. It hasn't seemed to hurt her career.

I'm assuming she had not received report on any of the patients? If so, then that is also acceptable. It could still be considered job abandonment.

If otherwise (she took report and then walked out), it would be patient abandonment and I'm pretty sure that's illegal....

control · Apr 14, 2006

I'm right there. I started to have tears well up in my eyes in a patients room and I he was whining about one thing or another and I was trying to tinker with his 3 IV pumps- I had the strong urge to sit on the nasty dirty floor, put my head in my hands and just cry like a baby. I keep having these thoughts of going into the med room and just shooting myself up with insulin or going home and just overdosing on pills. I can't get help here because the mental health system is WORSE than the acute medical care. If patients really had ANY idea- they would take their chances at home. Maybe it's not the same for other people but no one seems to be too concerned when I start crying at the nurses desk or begging people walking by (other staff) to shoot me. Speaking of which, we had a lockdown last night because there was a shootout in the parking lot. I was going downstairs (by the main doors) and someone said to be careful because it's by where the shooter was last seen; I said, "Good- maybe I'll get lucky and I won't have to come back up."

If you are seriously feeling that way, you should a) get some help for your mental health (and I meant that in earnest), and b) put in notice and take leave for those last 2 weeks. Wanting to/thinking of harming yourself or have someone harm you because of your work environment isn't worth toughing out the last 2 weeks....

Drysolong · Apr 17, 2006

I'm assuming she had not received report on any of the patients? If so, then that is also acceptable. It could still be considered job abandonment.
If otherwise (she took report and then walked out), it would be patient abandonment and I'm pretty sure that's illegal....

Not quite sure about that. At the time, I didn't know enough to ask that question. Either way, she is a well-respected charge nurse at the facility where I met her, after the incident.

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 17, 2006

One common theme I see in these threads in which people feel compelled to leave a job without giving proper notice .... is that they wait until they "can't take it any more" to do anything about it. I hope that people reading this thread can learn from such stories to NOT wait so long. If you are miserable in your job, take steps to correct the problems and/or start making arrangements to resign in a proper, professional manner that won't hurt your employment record. Don't make the mistake of waiting until you see no option other than walking out without notice and giving yourself a bad reputation that might hurt your career down the road.

As we can see in this thread, some people are able to get back on their feet and find good jobs after doing something like that. However, some people are not so lucky.

llg

Hairstylingnurse · Apr 17, 2006

One bad thing about just up & quitting is if your facility has a no re-hire policy. Ofcourse right now this place sucks. In a couple of years they have a change of all upper management, and this facility could be a wonderful, most desired place to work:lol2: ,but if they have you on the no-rehire list then you'll never have a chance at that facility again.

The reason I know that is because a freind of mine left like that from Lee Memorial health systems here in SW Florida and shae can't get re hired for anything. Lee Memorial owns quiet a few medical offices and hospitals here in this area. She is a great RN, Lee Memorial has a nursing shortage. She and Lee memorial need each other but she can never get back in. Lee Memorial told her a no-rehire is permanant.( I wonder if that is true everywhere of no-rehire, especially with a nursing shortage) So just be careful and choose wisely.

I wouldn't risk my lisc. and I have left from a shift at 2 nursing homes and never called back or went back. So I can see both sides of the situation.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Apr 17, 2006

Before my shift one day a nursing manager called me into her office whom I had never met in my 9 months of working on the neurovasc floor at a local hospital...it was my first job out of RN school.

Now, it was near Christmas and I was taking any and all extra shifts to make ends meet, got along great with the other nurses, the patients and I had a blast as well as getting their treatments done...everything was great! Which suprised me since I was so tired taking on all those shifts!

Well..this nurse manager was actually yelling at me for not comming into work all the time, calling in sick, not getting along with other nurses and patient complains. I was stunned! I asked her if she had the right nurse and spelled out my last name...that really ticked her off! Then it went from yelling to actual screaming at me! I told her I wanted to see these 'write up's' and my time card print out she had and told her about what I had been doing...I even admitted that maybe I clocked in incorectly or there was a mistake...but didn't think so because my paychecks were right on the money!

She would do nothing but yell at me...make excuses. Then she told me to kiss my ER preceptorship goodbye. That was it!!!!!!!!!

I told her very calmly...that screaming at a nurse before her shift began is NOT proactive, and that after my shift I was calling security, giving them my keys and badge, having them excort me to my car, and NEVER EVER come back again either as a nurse or patient!

I did my shift wonderfully despite taking a few breaks to cry...no one knew what had happened! I called security (I knew the noc shift guy in charge and he agreed 100% with me and supported my choice big time!) and he took my badge, keys, pager, and I emptied my pockets and all was good. I left, and have never returned! NOT even as a patient, nor my family/friends!

That nurse guarenteed me I would never work in nursing again if I left after shift...being a brand new nurse I basically was like "if this is what nursing is all about...I will consider my schooling a good experience and start all over with something better! You can have it, personally me...I wish to be treated as a professional, and if that takes somewhere or someother career...I am on my way!".

Lets see..that happened 6 years ago...and I am still nursing and now being treated like a professional. I have never had that probelm again!!!! And when I think back...that manager proably did call the BON...but, since my license has no dings...LOL, SHE DID have the wrong person!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

Taxminia0311 · Apr 19, 2006

Before my shift one day a nursing manager called me into her office whom I had never met in my 9 months of working on the neurovasc floor at a local hospital...it was my first job out of RN school.
Now, it was near Christmas and I was taking any and all extra shifts to make ends meet, got along great with the other nurses, the patients and I had a blast as well as getting their treatments done...everything was great! Which suprised me since I was so tired taking on all those shifts!
Well..this nurse manager was actually yelling at me for not comming into work all the time, calling in sick, not getting along with other nurses and patient complains. I was stunned! I asked her if she had the right nurse and spelled out my last name...that really ticked her off! Then it went from yelling to actual screaming at me! I told her I wanted to see these 'write up's' and my time card print out she had and told her about what I had been doing...I even admitted that maybe I clocked in incorectly or there was a mistake...but didn't think so because my paychecks were right on the money!
She would do nothing but yell at me...make excuses. Then she told me to kiss my ER preceptorship goodbye. That was it!!!!!!!!!
I told her very calmly...that screaming at a nurse before her shift began is NOT proactive, and that after my shift I was calling security, giving them my keys and badge, having them excort me to my car, and NEVER EVER come back again either as a nurse or patient!
I did my shift wonderfully despite taking a few breaks to cry...no one knew what had happened! I called security (I knew the noc shift guy in charge and he agreed 100% with me and supported my choice big time!) and he took my badge, keys, pager, and I emptied my pockets and all was good. I left, and have never returned! NOT even as a patient, nor my family/friends!
That nurse guarenteed me I would never work in nursing again if I left after shift...being a brand new nurse I basically was like "if this is what nursing is all about...I will consider my schooling a good experience and start all over with something better! You can have it, personally me...I wish to be treated as a professional, and if that takes somewhere or someother career...I am on my way!".
Lets see..that happened 6 years ago...and I am still nursing and now being treated like a professional. I have never had that probelm again!!!! And when I think back...that manager proably did call the BON...but, since my license has no dings...LOL, SHE DID have the wrong person!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

You is so lucky that this situation didn't effected you'r license....sometime I feel that I'm making the biggest mistake by entering the into the nursing career??? I keep reading over and over all of these horrible storys and it make me wanna change my career from nursing into computer programer.

burn out · Apr 19, 2006

It is hard to tell from your writing if your problems were one time bad staffing or if it is nursing in general at you hospital. I think before you completely give up you should put something in writing. One time I had a terrible night (worst one ever I'll omit the details) but at the end of the shift I wrote my charge nurse and clinical director that I could no longer work under such unsafe conditions and that I felt my license were at risk and I would not be returning to work. After I went home that morning I got several phone calls and asked what they could do to correct the problem and make me stay. The problem was the 3/1 patient ratio that I believed ended up costing a patients life. While they could not promise that I would never have 3 patients again we start hiring nurse techs to help out in the unit. Sometimes putting the problem on paper may get a better response that just verbally complaining.

dharma143 · Apr 19, 2006

When returning from a LOA, I agreed to return in a non-floor capacity. After 2 weeks of "we really need you to take a floor assignment today", I arrived to find that we were staffed with an extra nurse. I was assigned to floor duty & the other ns was given the job that I'd agreed to return for. Before accepting report...I went to speak with the only dept head. When she refused to change duties or even call the DON or ADON R/T this. I told them I was through here & left 45 min after I'd punched in. I am glad that I refused report....I could care less about their no rehire policy.

Now, I am considering a whole new direction. Retail at a craft store could be a nice break, till can find where I want to take my career.

PS The place I worked has such a bad reputation, that future employers need no explanation. I learned this when I'd left ther once before(I'd returned to a totally new management team)

Best wishes to you!

nurseinlimbo · Apr 19, 2006

I once had a job in a LTC facility where I was warned prior that they were unfriendly and chased new staff away. The manager was a grizzly. I worked there for 6 months until one shift I reached my final straw. This was a place where the entire group of staff would ridicule you in the middle of your end of shift report, if you called in sick the manager harassed and accused you of malingering, and there was backbiting and gossip all over.

I reached my limit, finished out the four shifts that I had coming up, and gave 2 weeks notice via fax the following Monday. I had no other shifts booked in the interim, and they didn't argue. I tried to follow up with the Health Region's Human Resources, but the environment was so poisoned that it really didn't help. I later heard that the manager had semi-retired and came back as a call in staff, which may have been why she wanted to decrease the pool nurses, in order to increase her own hours.

In my experience so far, units are about 50/50 split with being decent to work in, or horrible. I don't waste time in the horrible places, life is to short.

rn1956 · Apr 19, 2006

You have no professional obligation to give notice of resignation when your license is in jeopardy. I have left a handful of jobs without notice -- I've never found it difficult to find other employment.

p.s. I am currently working towards credentials that will allow me to leave nursing once & for all.

OliveVinesRN · Apr 19, 2006

I am working in a VERY unsafe job. I think the "icing on the cake" was yesterday. I have brought many concerns to management and basically have been told to shut up. I have never left a job without giving 2 weeks notice, but I just feel that I cannot work another day at his horrendous hospital! I have been a nurse many years and I have never encountered this type of environment until now. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Oh yes!!! I just did that on my previous job. I HAD to. There was no way I could handle another night on that floor. My job was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I feared that if I went in another night, someone would end up dead. It was that bad. And I felt bad about not giving a two weeks notice. Then I got over it and I feel that I did the right thing. I could no longer take part in the travesty at that place. Don't feel bad. You did the right thing. I wish you the best of luck.