Leaving written report at shift change?

[uptoRNin04]

Just wanted to know if anyone out there has ever been asked to leave a written report for the next nurse at shift change rather than a face to face? It was suggested to me that I do just that tonight at shift change since the next nurse was going to be late. I have always been led to believe that this constitutes patient abandonment. What happens if the pt goes bad before the nurse arrives? What if the nurse never shows up? I was asked to do this by the charge nurse on the next shift. My charge nurse, unit manager etc. had all gone home. I said I didn't mind staying. I gave report when she showed up. Just wondered what anyone thought about this? Is this legal?

[pedsnrs1]

This is a little different situation but along the same lines. I am a home health nurse and my relief is the parents. We are also required to write a report in the communication book about how our shift went. This makes me uncomfortable because of a nrsg seminar that talked about communication books being made as part of evidence in court. I was told to just stick to the basics and I should be fine. My feeling is oral report is the best. That way any questions can be answered right away. Thankfully in my situation, the parents are terrific at passing on info to the next nurse and my "shift went fine" or "read my nrsg notes" entry is ok in the communication book.