Anyone finish shift and not return to job?

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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!

Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.
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

Yep - Totally agree, I'm one of those people. I cannot go back to the place I quit. The circumstances were horrible. Working nights I was never well (hadn't worked nights in 13 years - body not handling it) patients complain because a sick nurse is working, and then on top of that a fellow nurse blatently lied about me to the charge nurse. The story was: I refused to turn a respite patient! - which was totally false and completely - fact was I was on restrictions and told the patient to give me a couple of minutes as I sought out an assistant to help me turn the patient! I wouldn't EVER refuse to turn a patient of any type - especially not a respite patient!! All the aides were in report and the nurses were not available - so I went back and said 'if you could assist me (talking to the daughter - because the patient was very uncomfortable) I will turn him now" She gladly assisted me, and after I helped turn the patient aides came in. Told them we got it and thanked them! What in the world is up with these people. Anyway - I had just received report (via tape - had not gotten report on the patients orally yet) and decided I could no longer put myself through this, I was willing to try until my coworkers decided to turn on me - I think because of my restrictions (which were caused by catching a patient who was falling and easing her to the floor!)

I told the manager I have another job, (which I did) and I don't need this kind of stress anymore. She said, what are you saying? Are you giving notice or leaving. I thought a second, and said, I just cannot do this anymore. Cleaned out my locker, made sure my first shift nurses were still there, told my charge nurse that I was leaving (we were actually overstaffed for the night anyway) and left. Went home and wrote up an account of the entire exchange and the events leading up to it. I will never have a chance to work for that hospital again, which is unfortunate because they are the only one local to me, but I just could NOT do that to myself anymore especially knowing that someone LIED just to get me in trouble. So - even though I burnt my bridge I am still glad I did. I haven't spent much time unemployed since then so I'm not too concerned. Just upset that I didn't make the choice that someone earlier suggested and when I noticed how badly it was affecting me, not putting in my notice then. Instead waiting until I couldn't handle it and then letting one thing push me over the edge (I must be honest there were many things leading up to this, but this was the biggest most hurtful one). So do as suggested before, DO NOT allow it to get to the point where you cannot fathom another moment there and just walk out. That's not a good idea. Take it from my experience.

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If you feel that this situation is unsafe and you want to bolt out the door I would go to the supervisor, explain the situation that it is NOT safe and she needs to maker it safer for you to continue working...if not then leave. If anything was to come of it (and I'm sure it wouldn't) you could always explain that the supervisor was aware of the unsafe, uncomfortable situation and did NOTHING.....then fax a complaint over to the dept of public health.

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Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

i have always given 2-4 wks notice.but the jobs don't really care why your leaving .i once left a job at my 3 month mark i had spoken with my nurse manager multiple times about my concerns i felt i could lose my license there it was not safe .well the 1st week after i gave my notice hr called and under guise of exit interview basically threw it back in my face and told me that would be my last day .so they wouldn't have to pay me 2 weeks more salary and the recruitment office i used to get the job their fee .its all about money and their bottom line.if i want to leave i leave .i don't use that job on my resume .

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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!!!!!!!

I would have said "excuse me one minute", calmly walked out of her office and called security and the meeting would be reconvened when they show up to the unit. If asked I would clearly state that I feared for my physical safety and was being verbally abused.

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Specializes in Case Management, Home Health, UM.

Oh, yes. I once left a job at a hospital without notice after I was chewed out by my supervisor for being out of work for three days with a sick child (his temp was 104 degrees), and another time with a HHA who was literally beating me to death with 12 visits a day. When they cut my salary without notice, I saw my remaining assigned patients, turned in my notes and equipment and walked out.

My child wasn't about to fall off the face of the earth for this supervisor's convenience. And as for this HHA, taking a pay cut on top of a horriffic workload was the last straw. :madface:

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