Mildly Threatening Comments

Good Morning Everyone -

I have resigned from my Nurse Practitioner position after fulfilling 4 months of a 2 year contract. The reasons why I did this are for a separate discussion. I have given 90 days notice per my contract requirement. I did not receive any sign on bonus, tuition reimbursement, and I was not recruited by a recruitment firm. When I submitted my resignation letter, my employer stated that he is "not accepting my resignation" and that if I leave, I am "abandoning my patients and my job." My job responsibilities are to follow up with patients after leaving the hospital to provide transitional care management. There are very few patients I have seen more than once. There are a select few patients that I see or call for chronic care management. These patients already have a primary care provider who provides most of their needs. I am wondering if resigning from a job actually constitutes patient abandonment and how I can avoid such accusations in the event that he contacts the BON or attempts to sue me. Also, I have never heard of an employer refusing a resignation. Is this legal? He also states that he will not pay me if he has to hire someone else and we are both working at the same time.

My biggest concern is with the accusation of patient abandonment. From what I have heard, the practice is responsible for sending letters to patients approximately 1 month ahead of time in order to notify them that the practitioner is exiting the practice. Since my employer is not "accepting my resignation," I don't think he will be sending these letters. Should I call the patients on my own or draft my own letter to send to them to document that I informed them of my departure?

Lastly, dose anyone know of a particular legal branch I can contact regarding this issue?