Is it ever okay to quit a nursing job without notice?

How do you feel about the ethics of quitting a nursing job without notice. Add a comment if you so choose.

[kwagner_51]

My first nursing job was at our local hospital. I was hired in July. Learned alot but was in a managers meeting in Sept with a laundry list of 'crimes' against me.

Stupid things like, Doesn't know how to assess for a subdural bleed. [i had just graduated] Uniforms are not ironed, isn't able to take pts on her own yet.[i hadn't passed boards yet and hadn't been through their nurse training either]. Said that "When I am a nurse I won't have to answer call lights". [seeing as how I had never worked anywhere in the medical field before, answering call lights relieved the boredom.]

And my all time favorite reason: DRUMROLL: I BRAGGED About passing NCLEX!!! I was telling everyone that I had passed and that I was now a nurse. I was happy!

I was fired after 89 days and 6 days after passing NCLEX!I was never trained at the hospital to be a nurse. It has been over 2 yrs and I still can't get hired back. I finally decided that I DON"T want to work for them.

I walked out after my last shift a year ago. I was the only RN in the building,. I had 2 LPN's, 2 QMA's and 3 CNA's working. I had to cover the QMA's and had a death on my unit that night. Even though I quit w/o notice, they still called and asked me to come in.

[Miami NightNurse]

You know what they say it's not professional to quit without 2 weeks notice, but why??? Where I work they recently fired a single mother with 3 children for missing 4 days in 6 months, she was a good nurse. No one cared that she didn't get a 2 week notice. They don't care about firing you without notice. I think if you really can't handle it anymore then just quit. Maybe if Hospitals worried we wouldn't come back we would have better working conditions. However if your place of employment has treated you well then you owe them that 2 week notice. My job right now is horrific but they have treated me well over the years and if I decided I can no longer handle it I would give atleast a 2 week notice.

[running_nurse]

I AM SO DONE! I have been working in the PACU at one of the countries largest and "famous" hospitals and I AM DONE! I made the switch over from the PICU at a different hospital mainly because of the hours and thinking it was the right decision to try to maintain my adult skills. Worst decision I have ever made.

The coworkers (aside from a few I have befriended) are horrible catty people. The patients are overly demanding because of the hospitals reputation (patients get upset when there are no "VIP" rooms left). There are never any hospital beds but the surgeons just keep churning out patients like an assembly line, then they are stuck in the PACU for up to 3 days with no regular floor bed to go to (last week we had 18 overnight patients).

To top it off, an RN on the floor wrote me up for not drawing the patients 2200 labs (I sent the patient upstairs at 2100). The patient ended up needing blood and apparently my ESP skills were supposed to know that. Even though the post-op H/H were FINE.(and drawn only an hour and a half prior to her d/c).

Now, I was under the impression reporting was "non-punitive." total BS. My manager asked if I really felt I had the "skills and competency" to do this job. I now need all my patients signed out by an ANM and I have to keep a patient log and meet with the Clinical Educator once a week.

NEVER ONCE in my PICU years were my clinical skills and knowledge ever questioned, and now all of this for not drawing labs that weren't even due!

It is a challenge to go to work everyday when your coworkers are seeing the Assistan NMs going through my work and being scrutinized at every turn.

I have had severe anxiety and stress r/t this which has lead to me calling off more often than I ever do. Now I haven't slept at all last night and while I have a new job on the horizon, it's not official, I am just ready to call off today and RESIGN, saying that next week will be my last week.

My well-being is really just being affected and it's to the point where I don't even care if I officially have a new job!! Is that horrible!?!?!?

*sorry this was so long*

[showbizrn]

Sure, you can leave a job WITHOUT NOTICE.

But...

Never, NEVER, list the job on your resume.

That's career suicide. 

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I AM SO DONE! I have been working in the PACU at one of the countries largest and "famous" hospitals and I AM DONE! I made the switch over from the PICU at a different hospital mainly because of the hours and thinking it was the right decision to try to maintain my adult skills. Worst decision I have ever made.

The coworkers (aside from a few I have befriended) are horrible catty people. The patients are overly demanding because of the hospitals reputation (patients get upset when there are no "VIP" rooms left). There are never any hospital beds but the surgeons just keep churning out patients like an assembly line, then they are stuck in the PACU for up to 3 days with no regular floor bed to go to (last week we had 18 overnight patients).

To top it off, an RN on the floor wrote me up for not drawing the patients 2200 labs (I sent the patient upstairs at 2100). The patient ended up needing blood and apparently my ESP skills were supposed to know that. Even though the post-op H/H were FINE.(and drawn only an hour and a half prior to her d/c).

Now, I was under the impression reporting was "non-punitive." total BS. My manager asked if I really felt I had the "skills and competency" to do this job. I now need all my patients signed out by an ANM and I have to keep a patient log and meet with the Clinical Educator once a week.

NEVER ONCE in my PICU years were my clinical skills and knowledge ever questioned, and now all of this for not drawing labs that weren't even due!

It is a challenge to go to work everyday when your coworkers are seeing the Assistan NMs going through my work and being scrutinized at every turn.

I have had severe anxiety and stress r/t this which has lead to me calling off more often than I ever do. Now I haven't slept at all last night and while I have a new job on the horizon, it's not official, I am just ready to call off today and RESIGN, saying that next week will be my last week.

My well-being is really just being affected and it's to the point where I don't even care if I officially have a new job!! Is that horrible!?!?!?

*sorry this was so long*

No apologies necessary! And NO, it's not horrible to try to preserve what's left of your dignity and your sanity.

RUN, do not walk, out of that place---put in some notice if you think you can hang in there just a bit longer, and start polishing up your resume. File for unemployment

benefits; you may be denied, but it is a myth that people who quit their jobs are ineligible for unemployment. (I was able to get it because I left due to stress-induced illness.) Take time, if need be, to assess what you've learned from this job and use it to look for a more suitable workplace, hopefully one that values your contribution and experience.

Life is too short to be this miserable.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted as to how you're doing

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

showbizrn said:

Sure, you can leave a job WITHOUT NOTICE.

But...

Never, NEVER, list the job on your resume.

That's career suicide.

After working at the same facility for 2 years, I recently quit without notice. This job is listed on all my employment applications and resumes, and I have not encountered any problems finding work. In fact, I have had multiple job offers recently.

Leaving a job without notice is not necessarily "career suicide," especially if facilities in one's area suffer from the Warm Body Syndrome out of the need to hire enough pulsating licensees to get the place minimally staffed.

[running_nurse]

mjlrn97 said:

No apologies necessary! And NO, it's not horrible to try to preserve what's left of your dignity and your sanity.

RUN, do not walk, out of that place---put in some notice if you think you can hang in there just a bit longer, and start polishing up your resume. File for unemployment

benefits; you may be denied, but it is a myth that people who quit their jobs are ineligible for unemployment. (I was able to get it because I left due to stress-induced illness.) Take time, if need be, to assess what you've learned from this job and use it to look for a more suitable workplace, hopefully one that values your contribution and experience.

Life is too short to be this miserable. 

Good luck to you, and keep us posted as to how you're doing

THANK YOU for your positive feedback, seeing as I was sure I was going crazy.

I am taking the weekend to let this all marinate but I really would not be surprised if I walked in there Monday and quit without notice. I spoke with my other RN friends and they are absolutely floored by what this place has done to me - they have all worked w/me and can attest to my clinical skills. Thanks again 

[Tolos]

Since you were employed through a process: offer, interview, and training. I think one should quit by informing employers or resigning. If you are in danger you can let employers know through your family or friends. It is unprofessional and seems like an "abandonment" of your patients. Give notice once you percieve or come in contact with a dangerous situation.

[ShifraPuah]

RNs are ultimately responsible for their licenses. If continuing to work at a facility makes an RN feel that s/he is putting their license on the line, then s/he has every right to quit without notice. :angryfire

Management should know never to put RNs (and LPNs/LVNs, CNAs or MAs, for that matter) in any situation in which the safety and health of patients are put in danger. Of course, if they did, then this thread wouldn't exist!

[jlynn325]

I chose "Yes, if you cant take it another day" because what kind of care are you giving if you cant take it another day? Unprofessional or not, you cant give good care if you are so stressed. I wouldnt want to be the patient on the receiving end. Good survey!

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Although I've been fired (from a she factory, of all things) and walked out of jobs, I never did leave a nursing job like that. I always gave two weeks notice.

But I wouldn't feel the least bit of a problem leaving without notice if I was too stressed to continue or felt I was part of a dangerous staff. Of course in the latter case, I'd also have to make a few phone calls, because that would be the only way I wouldn't feel like a deserter to helpless patients.

So my answer is yeah, sometimes I think it's not only OK, but it's the right thing to do.

[PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN]

Is this quitting mid shift, or at the end of the shift?