Is this abandonment?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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:

Specializes in Critical Care, Patient Safety.
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.

Here again, you are generalizing about the attitude of entitlement young people have. It comes off as being kind of ageist.

Your original post, while yes, I did see that you wrote 'some' in there - was pretty negative, and bothersome in the respect that it didn't do much to actually address the issue presented by the OP, but rather seemed like an opportunity to bash new grads.

As a point of clarification, I would like to point out that not all new grads are young people. I'm a slightly older new grad, having come into this career from another profession.

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Can we agree that some people of varying ages have an attitude of entitlement and move on?

Yes, there are many grads (some new and and some not so new) who have reached the point of being willing to do just about anything legal/moral to get a job. But there are also some reality-challenged folks who, when faced with tough circumstances, tend to look for loopholes, rescues or excuses. This is in part because society in general has conditioned people to look for bailouts and other kinds of assistance. It is also due to the very human trait of wanting to find the path of least resistance.

I don't know anything about the OP's overall character and ability to be realistic, but driving 30 miles to a home health client does not seem too outlandish. Most of the home care practitioners I have known put on all kinds of mileage on a regular basis.

I do encourage the OP to pin down more details regarding her next job. Mileage is a pretty basic aspect of home care, so not having discussed the potential driving distances strikes me as a lapse on her part. But it is an even greater omission on the part of the agency, who may have left out that piece of info so as not to scare her off.

The take-away here is to become more savvy before accepting a new job and to honor at least a minimal commitment (give notice, see the current clients, etc.) before walking out the door.

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op, definitely make sure you are more prepared at your next interview.

write down any/all questions, so there will be no surprises.

leslie

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

From what I've seen in Home Health, it would be a stretch for the agency to accuse you of abandonment if you gave several (3 or more) days notice. It would have probably been a better choice to agree to go out to see the patient anyway, so they don't have to scramble to fill the spot. A good agency or manager will appreciate that, and you will gain far more in good will than you will lose by being inconvenienced for that day. I've seen nurses call off or refuse to return to cases for reasons you would think they had considered before accepting the assignment, such as pets in the home, smokers, or not so great neighborhoods. Always check Mapquest and ask about any issues you won't be able to be flexible with. Look at it as a learning experience for next time.

Indeed. My husband does home health, and he has the "rural team." From where the office is, he routinely drives 50 miles to the south, 70 miles to the north, and 60 miles to the east (and once in a great while he'll have a patient who lives in the town 80 miles to the west, but not too often). He loves it. It's his "me" time when he's driving. And the mileage reiumbursement checks are huge!

I loved the drives when I lived in a more rural area, too! It was actually relaxing to see pastures, hills and farm animals on a 30 mile drive to an outlying town after living in Los Angeles. A 30 mile drive in SoCal to me is t o r t u r e - the unpredictable traffic, no open space, etc. Ugh. I had to tell my friends if they were going to fly to LAX, they could just take the Fly-Away bus someplace closer to me and I'd pick them up there. Otherwise, no dice. When the drive to pick them up takes over twice as long as their flight to get to LA, something is very wrong with that picture!!!

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Man, this just shows the entitled attitude of some new grads these days.. all over people are posting that they can't get jobs, and this one quits over the phone because it's "too far". Wouldn't you find out where the patients would be before accepting a job?

I was wondering that to, I don't know anything about home health care but wouldn't you get an idea? Then again, I wouldn't turn down a job that is 30 miles a way. 300 yeah, but 30 doesn't seem like much at all.

Gas is expensive, but it's even more expensive when you have no income :|

If it had been me, I would have finished out my day at the very least.

Hopefully you learn from this (to the OP) and don't get in to much trouble :|

ETA- Just saw OP post saying they gave a few days notice, that is at semi better at least. The way it was originally worded it seemed like you had mapped it and decided not to right before going. Like same day.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

If you gave a few days notice I really don't think that would be abandonment. That is plenty of time for the agency to find a replacement. When they pulled out the patient abandonment card they were just trying to scare/intimidate you into keeping your scheduled shifts so they wouldn't have to lose any money.

I would remember this experience and ask more questions during interviews before accepting a job in the future.

I really can't believe all the negative statements and judgements being given out. I really liked the one saying 'maybe she's not cut out to be a nurse' or something to that effect. It's not like the OP did something wth malicious intent, some people just need to get a life IMHO.

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