HELPP!! :(

[viccou6501]

I have been working as a RN case manager for a home health company for three months.They are very disorganized and recently cut office hours pay, I used to get paid to return to the office and fax orders for my patients. I get paid per diem and when it takes two hours to get my assignment I am losing money. I work hours a day for $100 bucks now. I put in my two weeks notice but a week later I walked in and quit. I did not accept my patient assignment and quit before shift started. My boss said she is going to have my license taken for patient abandonment. I am the provider in the house and paying for my education, I could not afford to stay or wait for hours to get my patient assignment. I live in VA, am I at risk for losing my license??? Please and thank you!!!!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

You cannot 'abandon' a patient if you didn't even accept the assignment. Check with your nurse practice act, but I can't imagine how it could be construed as abandonment. That's ludicrous. From what you have described, you essentially just resigned without any advance notice.

Just for the heck of it, I found this for you - from The VA "Nurses Notes" Spring 2001

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The term “patient abandonment” should be differentiated from the term “employment abandonment,” which becomes a matter of the employer-employee relationship and not that of the Board of Nursing. It should be noted that from a regulatory perspective, in order for patient abandonment to occur, the nurse or CNA must have first accepted the patient assignment and established a nurse-patient relationship, then severed that nurse-patient relationship without giving reasonable notice to the appropriate person (supervisor, employer) so that arrangements can be made for continuation of nursing care by others. Providing appropriate nursing personnel to care for patients is the responsibility of the employer. Failure of a nurse to work beyond his/her scheduled shift, refusal to accept an assignment, refusal to float to another unit, refusal to report to work, and resigning without notice, are examples of employment issues, and not considered by the Board to constitute patient abandonment

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It just frosts my pumpkin when supervisors try to beat nurses into submission by threatening their licenses . . .

[viccou6501]

Thank you so much!!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If they continue to harass you, withhold your pay, etc., call your malpractice carrier and have the lawyer there send a little nastygram on letterhead. If you don't have malpractice insurance, get it stat. But meanwhile, find a friend whose brother has a cousin who's a lawyer and have him/her send that nastygram.

[viccou6501]

Thank you very much

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

I can recall other posts with similar stories regarding home health companies. Stand your ground and don't let them threaten you.