30 Day notice for resignation??

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a new grad that just got off orientation and currently work in ICU. It has been a nightmare. I have decided with all the caos that is going on there (short staffing, 3 pt assignments, pulling our staff and leaving us short, along with a ton of new hospitalists who barely speak english and write weird orders) that I don't want to do critical care.

Well 3 weeks ago I went to my supervisor and told her all of this and requested to be transferred to med-surg. She said she understood but wanted me to try CCU for 2 weeks to see how it went. I tried and still didn't like the critical care part of nursing. I went back to her and again requested to be transferred...well she just isn't hearing me. She says I just won't like med-surg and I am better off staying in critical care, and that I don't want to be one of those "med-surg" nurses. She even talked to the director of med-surg and said that they don't think I will be happy over there either..blah..blah..blah..so basicly they won't transfer me.

I am sick of not being heard!!! I don't like codes, having pt's with no BP, and just the sickest of the sick. I have only been there 6 months and feel like I am burning out! I dread going to work everyday and dream that I am still there on my days off!!!!! I just want to take a step back and just learn my basic nursing skills...

So, I put my 2 week resignation letter in her box last night when I got to work and got a call today...she informed me that as I nurse I had to give a 30 day notice ...and reminded me of what I would be doing to my co-workers by leaving and not to burn any bridges. (Also not to mention that 2 other nurses just quit and she is prob freaking out). but I have gone through my paperwork and have not found anyhting saying that I had to give a 30 day notice if I quit....what do you guys think???? I just want OUT!!!!

You should give whatever notice is required, but I've never heard of a hospital requiring 30 days. Does your paperwork saying anything about the amount of notice required? If not, call HR and ask.

Your other option: leave at 2 weeks anyway, but that will burn your bridges for ever working at that facility again. If you interveiw somewhere else and it comes up, be honest about why you did that. 2 weeks is better than just not coming back. And as for your coworkers, you can't help them if you're not taking care of yourself. It's the manager's job to keep them happy; if she's that shortstaffed, she's obviously not accomplishing that.

Sounds to me like the two weeks of CCU should count as part of a 30 day notice. It's not like you didn't put her on notice.

Specializes in Assisted Living Nurse Manager.

Where I work it is required to give 30 days notice and if you do not you are not rehirable. I say do what you need to do, but if you ever want to work for that company again then give 30 days.

It's thirty days too in our hospital.Most RN's are required to give thirty days notice but other employees aren't. Kinda sucks to me.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

The answer to your question depends on whether you want to ever use this place as an employment reference in the future. If you have already found another job and aren't really concerned with staying on good terms with this current workplace, I would leave at the 2-week mark. If, however, you think you would like to use this place as a reference in the future, I would submit a 30 day notice of resignation just to keep the ties that bind together.

Specializes in PACU, PICU, ICU, Peds, Education.

You have to check your specific policy. In our hospital, it goes by pay period. bi-weekly employees give 2 week notice. Salaried employees give 30 day notice. It is in your employee handbook.

Hospitals here have you sign a paper when hired that you understand that at anytime they can fire you without giving a reason and you can also quit at any time without giving a reason. HOWEVER, they sound like they're contradicting themselves on another form that states in it that non-professional employees must give 2 weeks notice and professional employees must give 4 weeks notice. I tried to resign once and my NM said I had to give 4 weeks notice and I reminded her of what I'd signed when hired. She explained that it was true that I could quit at any time, but if I ever wanted to come back, the hospital wouldn't rehire. To make a long story short, she begged and begged me for 3 days not to leave and ended up talking me to work PRN instead of regular scheduled staff.

More and more facilities seem to require a 30 day notice here.

Specializes in Critical Care.

At will states do normally indicate that you can quit at any time. But the question is about notice, a different concept. You CAN quit now, or in 2 weeks, but a notice serves to allow them sufficient time to replace you, and that is a courtesy, a necessary courtesy to remain on good graces and not burn bridges, either for rehire or reference.

Yes, nursing is moving towards 30 day notices instead of 2 weeks. But, that speaks to our upwardly professional status: we are simply not easily replaced, run of the mill employees.

I'd work out the 30. It's a professional courtesy. But, if you can't, then you can't. Courtesy doesn't take priority over sanity. You just have to carefully weigh what you're trading. You mentioned interest in the med/surg floor of that hospital, and I presume that its location is of benefit to you as you are working there in the first place. You don't know if the opportunity will come up to 'hire in' instead of 'transfer to' that floor. Unless, you burn a bridge. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

Specializes in Critical Care, ER.
But, that speaks to our upwardly professional status: we are simply not easily replaced, run of the mill employees.

~faith,

Timothy.

:roll :roll :roll :roll :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Specializes in Critical Care.
:roll :roll :roll :roll :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Oh, I have no illusions: TPTB WISH we were as easily replaced as they would like. But it just isn't so. We all know that there isn't a 'shortage' of nurses, but a shortage of those willing to do the work at the price they are being paid.

But, as nurses 'decide' they don't want that kind of work, they tend to move to jobs away from that kind of work. It's not just a game of musical chairs. That being the case, the old standby has always been to 'prime the pump' of the nursing pipeline.

This is why a new nurse was brought into critical care in the first place.

The 'pump' is damaged, if not broken.

So, we simply AREN'T as easily replaced as we used to be. It might not be a direct reflection of 'professionalism', but it IS a direct reflection of relative value, and those two concepts will come, hand in hand.

Just because we are more difficult to replace doesn't translate to respect as of yet. So, I understand your response completely. But respect is a function of value. AS more and more effort and expense goes into retaining and recruiting nurses, that 'lagging indicator', respect, WILL catch up. Either that, or employers are bigger idiots then I thought (and THAT's a huge assumption). Nevertheless, the latter might well be the case.

~faith,

Timothy.

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