How to give 2 week notice

[Motherofadarling]

I work night shift, my manager works days, my shift is usually well over by the time she gets to work. I need to give my 2 weeks notice. Can I call or email? It takes me about 30-45 minutes to drive in. Most of our communications happen over email or phone..

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I personally resigned from my hospital job on a Monday morning following a weekend of working nights. My boss was always in for morning report though. I asked to speak with her after report, told her that it was time to for me to move on and handed her my written resignation.

I had other colleagues who worked nights who did not see her often because they were part-time/worked on the weekends. I know one who emailed because she wasn't going to be working for another several days and wanted to get the notice given and another who called to tell the manager she was coming in to speak with her, dropped by and said "I'll make this quick, I'm leaving, here it is in writing, this is when my last day is."

[FurBabyMom, MSN, RN]

I've resigned before via written letter with an email (with read receipt) asking confirmation of the paper copy.

Your manager might want to talk to you (maybe exit interview, etc) or may not. If they need to talk to you they will reach out.

[emb92250]

I would just email, then call later to see if she got it. I don't think there is really any need for the read receipts or delivery confirmations. The main thing is that she knows you are leaving and can make adjustments accordingly.

I've always had good repor with my managers and just texted my last one initially, but sent an email as a more professional "official" resignation. She, of course, emailed back to confirm she received it.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I don't think there is really any need for the read receipts or delivery confirmations.

I do. I don't trust my employer not to try to use some underhanded methods to avoid things like paying out unused vacation time. Somewhere on AN, someone posted about how they were assigned call on their last day. That person now includes a time in addition to date of their end of employment.

[RNrhythm, BSN, RN]

"I called her to notify her so she wasn't blindsided by the email with my official resignation. I then emailed her and HR my official resignation letter."

I like this answer best.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work night shift, my manager works days, my shift is usually well over by the time she gets to work. I need to give my 2 weeks notice. Can I call or email? It takes me about 30-45 minutes to drive in. Most of our communications happen over email or phone..

NO to the phone. You always want to put notice in writing, because it's very easy for your manager/HR to forget or "forget" when you gave notice or that you've even given it in the first place.

E-mail...better than phone, still not recommended IMO. Messages sometimes don't make it through, plus they can be altered, so the e-mail your manager forwards to HR may not be exactly what you wrote the manager.

Sending a letter is the best because a. it's physically in writing; b. it can't be altered (whereas e-mails can); and c. thanks to hand delivery or certified mail, you can ensure that the letter makes it to whoever you sent it to.

Whether you e-mail or write, be sure that you send a copy to both your manager and HR. Send the copies at the same time; do not rely on your manager to forward it to/notify HR. If necessary, call to confirm receipt. And if you want to give your manager a heads-up about it, you can...but don't consider that phone call your official resignation--the letter/e-mail is.

Best of luck.

[Swellz]

I'm surprised more people aren't suggesting you call. I would call and send an email. I just put in my notice but I was able to do it in person. I sent an email more as a formality.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I would double check the whole 2 week notice thing. As an RN, I found out that I had to give 30 days when I left my first job. I was given wrong information when I spoke to an administrator that didn't know the hospital policy. I had to work weekends, 16 hour shifts even, to get my hours in to be "eligible for rehire". The hidden importance of that status is cashing out your accrued PTO time, plus you never know when it might come back to bite you in the butt. Nursing is a very small world.

[JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN]

Oh man I know this struggle.

When I left my last hospital job for my SN position, I was doing rotating shifts (part of my reasons for quitting!) and happened to be on for a stretch of nights during the week I needed to resign. The evening of the shift where I planned to stay after and wait for the manager to stroll in at 8:30 or so, I woke up with chills, nausea and body aches. No fever. I called my sister (a HR guru) to ask what I should do because I really needed to resign that day in order to give 2 weeks before the start of my new job but I felt weird resigning in writing as opposed to face to face. She said resigning in writing, especially when you do shift work, is acceptable but you need to feel out the manager. Some old school bosses might not be okay with it. I wasn't sure and wanted to err on the side of caution so off to work I went. I felt so horrible I had to get my fiance to drive me there. I slogged through the shift (thankfully I had an orientee who was pretty much independent by that time) and after report I waited... and waited... and waited... and my manager never showed. I found out later she was out to breakfast. But I waited for at least 30 minutes and she wasn't there so I left my resignation letter with the charge nurse and off I went. She, naturally, called me just as I was falling asleep to talk about it and try to tell me I had to give 3 weeks notice instead of 2 but that's neither here nor there.

Tl;dr Don't do what I did. What I did was stupid. Call her and let her know you will be sending an official resignation letter, either by mail or by hand, and notify HR. Make sure whatever writing you include has the date because that's usually how they determine when your last day will be.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

I would double check the whole 2 week notice thing. As an RN, I found out that I had to give 30 days when I left my first job. I was given wrong information when I spoke to an administrator that didn't know the hospital policy. I had to work weekends, 16 hour shifts even, to get my hours in to be "eligible for rehire". The hidden importance of that status is cashing out your accrued PTO time, plus you never know when it might come back to bite you in the butt. Nursing is a very small world.

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I looked up my policy and I am required to give 4 weeks notice in writing.

Simple letters stating concisely the intent and last day are effective. It's a nice touch if you add a line about gratitude or something, if it applies.

I plan to stay prn and not burn any bridges. Indicate that as well if you want.

[LovelyOverload]

I place a hard copy underneath door or in her inbox and email the exact same copy to her and cc HR just to cover yourself.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

You could send a cake.