help! resigning from an unsafe facility after working only a couple weeks

[nurseyNJNYC]

- i have made the decsion to leave a job because i am very uncomfortable with ALOT of what i see that goes on (and something really bad happened tonight) even.. i am not a new nurse, ive had 4 years of experience in a a facility where we took EXCELLENT care of out patients. this new place scares me, and i fear for my license.

- someone said that i should just call out and quit immediately. which i want to, but fear that it will possibly look bad for future applications??

- the quality of care of my patients is important to me.. but i dont want to look like a "quitter"..

- i do want to write a letter of resignation, but im quitting immediately, no two weeks.. is the letter even necessary?

[DNS on the go]

Do yourself a favor, Write a formal resignation letter stating that you are resigning with your last day you will working. Mostly likely, as a new employee of a few weeks, you are still on orienation so you can leave the day you resign. Do not list the reason your leaving. Your supervisors know what is going on (even if they pretend otherwise). If asked why you are leaving state something neurtal like travel time or family issues. Please go out with out any drama. The last thing a facility wants is to hear is a new disgruntled employee's view of their facility-even if your reasons for talking are patient care centered. As for your resume, leave this job off. From reading what you wrote, you tried the job, did not like what was going and quickly decided to move on. I am assuming that this facility is a nursing home. Nursing homes are revolving doors with regard to staff coming and going. The more low key you are, the better. Those supervisors will move on and have other jobs. Do not get a bad reputation in the nursing home business as this will haunt you as you look for another jobs. LTC is a small industry and as I said before, nursing personnel including nursing supervisors and directors rotate from facility to facility. You made up your mind, go out professionally and without any drama. You are not in a position to right what you perceive as wrong. Be polite and give formal notice with out the gripes. Good luck in your future position.

[kesr]

One more suggestion - if it is truly unsafe - report it. To the city or county, to the state, to medicare, to the health department. Anyone who would do an inspection or audit.

[mazy]

I've left a couple of jobs within the probationary period and did not list them. Never had a problem.

If you are worried about this coming up on a background check I would say that you wait until the interview and say that you worked in so and so place and just wanted to mention it even though you left and then give a general reason about why, perhaps something along the lines of how the job made you recognize how important it was to be able to do X in your job and that you feel you would be a better fit in another facility.

They aren't going to do the check anyway until they've made a decision about whether to hire you.

I've done that and usually the interviewer just thanks me for my honesty. One said "Oh, well, we all make those mistakes, sometimes it's just helpful to make them, it gets your priorities straight." I got that job.

Just keep in mind that if you write a letter you do not want to burn bridges....you may not want to have anything to do with that facility ever again but the nursing community is a lot smaller than you would think and at some point you will run into those people again.

[skittlebear]

I would probably tough it out, give my letter of resignation, and a two week notice.

[skittlebear]

Sorry, I am tired and missed that you have only been working for 2 weeks. I would write a very professional letter of resignation and write down the date that you want to leave (shouldn't have to be in 2 weeks if you have only been there for 2 weeks). I wish you the best!

[TexasNurseEducator]

I agree with several of the posters regarding certified letter, keep a copy, no need to put on resume or application but, be willing to discuss in interview process. Most Boards of Nursing's have abandonment policies. Review that for your state and if patient care is in danger can report even anomymously to your state health dept. It is smart that you not only recognized the unsafe situation but, made a very hard choice to remove yourself from the situation if you can't change it. I teach with a remediation/refresher program in Texas and all to often meet nurses that wish they had done as you did and quit. But, too late find themselves in the mist of a lawsuit or BON complaint over something that was way beyond their control in most ways. It takes courage especially in this job market to say nope, not the right place for me. The first step toward being where you want to be is to recognize where you don't want to be.

P.S. You can often get advice from your state nursing professional organization.

Merry Christmas,