Is this abandonment?

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Hi, I am a new grad who was hired by a home health agency. They gave me 2 patients to go visit. One was for 2x a week and the other 3x a week. The first patient is in the hospital so I couldnt go see her. When I checked the address of the 2nd patient, he was more than 30 miles from my home so I decided that this job was not for me because the patients are all too far from my home and it just isnt worth it. I called in and left a message saying I would rather not work for them because the patients are too far. They called back and left me a message saying to return the paperwork stating the patients info (which I will do first thing tomorrow) and that what I did was abandon my patients. Can I get in trouble for this? :crying2:

I gave them a couple days notice and I did apologize to them. I just found out that they have been written up several times over other things they have done and the patients they gave me have not been seen by their other nurses in over 2 weeks. They just wanted a Spanish speaking nurse at any cost but if they dont have one, shouldnt they send a nurse anyway?

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
It's unprofessional for ANY job,to not at least finish your shift before you quit. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, it would be abandonment to quit before a shift is done. She wasn't "on shift" - there was no shift to finish.

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At that link that I had provided earlier:

Refusal to do overtime is not unprofessional conduct. Hospitals are required to make a reasonable effort to provide enough staff for the patients that they accept for care. Mandating that employees fill in (for regular shift positions) with overtime is generally looked upon as a failure to provide adequate staffing. There are extreme or rare cases like declared disasters or emergencies that are government sanctioned situations in which the state mandates professional participation as a condition of one's license. But those are few and far between.

Thank you for explaining that to me :)

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
Yes, because all we should contribute here are pats on the back and "there theres". Because THAT is just so helpful.

Here is a kitten and a rainbow for you.

The OP needs to know that what she did was appallingly unprofessional, so that she doesn't think it okay and do it again when the fancy strikes her.

I happen to agree that the OP's actions were unprofessional, but the "pile-on" in this thread is overboard & distasteful, IMHO.

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So a home health nurse who wakes up with the flu and calls the office to notify them she cannot do that day's visit is guilty of abandonment?

Of course not. Calling in because you are sick is a completely different issue that has nothing to do with this thread.

However, if a nurse is calling in for no other reason other than they don't want to drive 30 miles, that nurse should give a least 24 hours notice to avoid abandonment issues to allow the employer to make other arrangements. Now, any reasonable and professional person would not even think of doing something so preposterous, but there ya go.

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here is what oregon has to say.

Oregon State Board of Nursing Disciplinary Policy Statement

There are a number of situations that some members of the nursing community have traditionally believed are patient abandonment, ranging from termination of employment without notice to leaving a patient care assignment in the midst of that assignment. The Board believes that many of these scenarios are employment rather than nursing regulatory issues and do not constitute patient abandonment under the Board's rules or by Board policy. To illustrate, the Board believes that:

♦ Resignation from employment without notification, assuming the previously agreed-upon patient care assignment has been completed, is not patient abandonment but is an employment issue.

♦ Refusal to stay and work an additional shift (double shift) is not patient abandonment, and is an employment rather than a nursing regulatory issue.

♦ Refusal to float to an unfamiliar unit is not patient abandonment, but is an employment issue. However, the Board believes that the employer has a responsibility to clearly identify the expected patient care responsibilities to the floating nurse/nursing assistant, as there is a great difference between an expectation that the nurse/nursing assistant will carry a full patient assignment versus an expectation that the nurse/nursing assistant will be an "extra body" to assist licensed nurses who are familiar with the unit and its patients.

♦ Failure to notify the supervisor of the nurse/nursing assistant's intent to leave, and leaving in the midst of a patient care assignment without the supervisor's knowledge, is patient abandonment.

♦ Sleeping on the job, which has the effect of being unavailable to observe the patient or respond to the patient's needs, is patient abandonment even though the nurse/nursing assistant is physically present.

♦ Failure to report for a patient assignment, or leaving in the midst of a patient care assignment when the nurse/nursing assistant is the sole care provider, or the licensed nurse is a consultant or supervisor in a home or homelike situation, is patient abandonment.

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and a little more from oregon.

Oregon State Board of Nursing Disciplinary Policy Statement

In situations where the nurse/nursing assistant is the sole care provider, such as in a private home or homelike setting, patient abandonment is very serious and may result in discipline. The Board will consider the following factors in determining the level of discipline:

♦ the extent of dependency or disability of the patient;

♦ stability of the patient;

♦ the length of time the patient was deprived of care;

♦ the effect on the patient due to lack of care;

♦ any harm to the patient;

♦ steps taken by the nurse/nursing assistant to notify the patient of the inability to provide care; and

♦ a history of previous patient abandonment.

Abandonment of a highly unstable patient, a negative outcome (death or injury), or a history of previous instances of patient abandonment will result in the disciplinary sanctions at the level of suspension or revocation of the license or certificate.

An applicant for licensure or certification who is known to have abandoned a person while fulfilling a caregiver role will be reviewed by the Board to evaluate whether the applicant is at risk for patient abandonment. The license or certificate may be denied. The Board will use the factors described above to make its decision

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OP, your mistake I guess was not feeling out this employer with the type of questions you needed to about your territory. Driving 30 miles is not something you want to do, that's fine by me. Some people love that type of thing. I just think that it would have been important to state during the interview what type of radius you feel is doable for you. If they don't think it's doable for them, then they can look elsewhere and so can you. Done deal. Since they wanted a Spanish-speaker so desperately you might have been able to negotiate a bit there..

I know that the majority of job ads I see are agencies. I am sure a lot of them are some guy/gal and a laptop at the kitchen table. The only home health I would consider being a newbie would be one that is hospital based and offers an orientation if you are a new grad. Around me, all I see for homehealth that is hospital based, requires at least 2-3 years medsurg or ICU or Onc experience. So you see where you need to be OP for this type of job.

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Specializes in NICU.

At least you gave them a couple days notice. And ghillbert, if you didn't want us to make generalizations based on your post about SOME new grads, you wouldn't have made it.

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Specializes in CTICU.

Please don't tell me what my motivations are. If I wanted to generalize, I would have said "Man, new grads these days!!". I purposely didn't. But there is NO denying that there is an attitude of entitlement in many young people that didn't used to be there. Even if saying so makes me sound like an old granny.

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Specializes in Peds,LTC, Assisted Living, Med/Surg.
I don't think you meet the client beforehand in home health. I think you show up at the designated time, assume a cordial relationship, and go about your work.

Only at one place where I worked did they let you go out and meet the patient and family. Then you were able to decide if you want to take the case

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Specializes in NICU.
Please don't tell me what my motivations are. If I wanted to generalize, I would have said "Man, new grads these days!!". I purposely didn't. But there is NO denying that there is an attitude of entitlement in many young people that didn't used to be there. Even if saying so makes me sound like an old granny.

I suppose and I retract my previous statement:) I wouldn't go so far as to say 'many' young people, but there definitely enough. No, you don't sound like an old granny.

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