How bad is it to not work a two week notice?

[Sensoria17]

I'm going to start looking for a job on the other side of the country in the next few months in a state where unemployed nurses are a dime a dozen. My question is, should I happen to find a job, I don't think I could actually work a two week notice. I could work one week but then I'd have to pack and move the next week. I give this two-week time frame because I doubt any employer would be willing to hold a position open for me for longer than two weeks in a saturated job market. TIA for any advice/comments.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Most places that I have worked, my employer required 4 weeks notice, and it was written in the employee handbook.I have virtually always worked the 2-4 week notice. I currently work at one of the top 5 rated facilities in the nation, and gave 6 week notice to my prior employer. If the place that is hiring you has integrity and you have integrity, you work out the required notice. It was the RESPONSIBLE, professional thing to do.If the job were dangerous, breaking the law or abusive, it might be appropriate to leave without notice. If they have treated you well, you show respect by giving proper notice. To do otherwise, hurts the employer and more so, your coworkers.What employers/other employees do is irrelevant. What YOU do speaks to YOUR characterand determines how you will be thought of and referenced. And one day, you may find that to get a job, YOU will need the reference or goodwill of one of those you left behind. I moved over a thousand miles away and still found myself in a position to help hire a former coworker from a former workplace. One that behaved badly.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Try to leave this job on the most professional terms possible because as caroladybelle said, you never know if you will end up going back to them with hat in hand to ask for a reference or a job. Give them the required notice--or as much of it as possible--if you can.

And while everyone's right in saying that employers won't hesitate to give you less than two weeks's notice...the fact is that the employers are the ones that are doing the hiring and have the upper hand. Not necessarily fair, but that's how it is right now :/

[wyogypsy, RN]

Start packing now. There must be a lot of things that you don't use on a daily basis that can be packed up. By the time you are ready to give your notice you shouldn't have to pack up anything other than the essentials, which will be the first things you want to unpack in your new place. I have been a DON and an administrator, and would not turn someone down for employment that was courteous enough to give a 2 week notice. And if 2 weeks isn't possible, at least give a week's notice which will allow them time to cover shifts for the 2nd week. That is a win-win for both!

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Check with your HR...where I work, if you don't work the 2 weeks notice they will not pay you vacation/sick time owed (if you get that). That could equal a big chunk of money. It is just professional and courteous to give a notice.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

Giving a two week notice has nothing to do with being professional or having self-respect.....that is just a personal opinion some people have..

Yes, and sometimes those people are called "hiring managers."