Nurse Abandonment - What does it constitute?

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Last week, I had a terrible shift because a Nurse was a No Call / No Show. To make matters worse, she had done this the previous day, management called her, forgave her, and scheduled her the next day. I worked both of these shifts doing double duty on a LTC Unit. I did my best the first day and had others help with med pass etc. The second day I could hardly stand it so I insisted that someone, anyone take the other unit (I was ready to ask the Administrator who has an RN license!!!). I did get the help I needed eventually but after much insistence on my part and an argument with the clerical staff over safe Nursing (geech... and she was NOT a nurse :angryfire )

To me, a no call / no show is Abondonment, is anyone familiar with this? Of course I was not happy with managment for allowing this to happen either. Bad employees just continue on their bad course unless there are consequences.

I also found this article regarding Abondonment regarding staffing of the Florida Disaster Crisis of interest on this topic. Here is the article:

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=43523

About 25 nurses fired for not working during Hurricane Frances

By Associated Press

Thursday, September 9, 2004

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - A hospital has fired or suspended about 25 nurses for not working during Hurricane Frances, hospital officials said.

Nurses at Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial were fired for not calling in, not showing up or refusing to work, while others were suspended for not completing a shift or coming late, said hospital spokeswoman Desiree Paradis-Warner.

She said critical care employees are required to work during a disaster under hospital policy.

``It's in each employee's job description,'' Paradis-Warner said. ``We have to have caregivers here . ... patient safety is our No. 1 priority.''

As the hurricane approached, nurses were advised to work their shifts, she said. The hospital provided shelter for working employees and their families.

Frances made landfall early Sunday about 150 miles south of Ormond Beach, causing an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion in insured damages across the state and leaving at least 15 Floridians dead.

Other hospitals said none of their employees were fired or suspended for staffing problems during the hurricane.

``There were relatively few nursing team members who were unable to come in for their shifts,'' said John E. Evans, spokesman for Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. ``And those were able to notify us, in most cases, of good reasons not to make it, such as storm damage they needed to address.''

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I am curious what others have experienced regarding this topic. I would love to know more about the Board of Nursing Guidlines; I will look it up for my state.

Thank you for your input!

night

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I disagree. No call/no show is irresponsible, but not abandonment IMHO

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Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
I disagree. No call/no show is irresponsible, but not abandonment IMHO

I agree.....to abandon something, you must have had or accepted something (ie:an assignment, pt. load, a dog, cat or child....you get the drift) in the first place). You can't abandon something you never accepted. No call no show is just that.....you didn't give a reason why you didn't show up for work. That is not and should not be reported to the BON....that's up to administration to deal with.

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You are both correct, a no call no show is not abandonment, according to the Co BON Freq. Asked Questions Page (unless you are doing Home Health and have accepted the assignment.

Interestingly, you can not be forced to work beyond your shift or extra shifts according to this BON help page:

http://www.dora.state.co.us/nursing/frequentlyaskedquestions/PatientAbandonmentPolicy.pdf

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thanks for the input ;)

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While I do not think this behavior constitutes abandonment, since the assignment was not accepted, it may be described as unprofessional behavior if there is a policy regarding no shows within your facility. You are right that to allow this behavior is to condone it. The DON is probably looking at the short term situation: if I fire this nurse I will have to replace her and work the others short staff till I hire someone.

But, in the long run, the DON risks losing good nurses who get tired of a coworker not carrying her own weight. She might end up losing the good nurses. So continue to complain to DON.

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not abandonment but it you need to talk to don about at a time when it is not a pressure moment......ask what the policy will be in the future when a like problem presents itself...if there is no satisfactory answer, frequently you will get a sympathic look and a shrug of the shoulders....this is a pat on the head and not an answer...lyou may look around for something else...

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You are both correct, a no call no show is not abandonment, according to the Co BON Freq. Asked Questions Page (unless you are doing Home Health and have accepted the assignment.

Interestingly, you can not be forced to work beyond your shift or extra shifts according to this BON help page:

http://www.dora.state.co.us/nursing/frequentlyaskedquestions/PatientAbandonmentPolicy.pdf

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thanks for the input ;)

Wow, I did not realize that. There is almost nothing that makes me more angry than to work a hard 3-11 shift and the night nurse does not show up...to me a no-call-no-show should not be given a second chance (unless there is a VERY unusual circumstance). What makes me more angry than a no-call-no-show is an administration that does nothing about it.

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What makes me more angry than a no-call-no-show is an administration that does nothing about it.

Ditto! I do not need to know the details but it would be nice to "see" that there is an effort to not let that happen again. Would you believe, there were two nurses doing this more then once; one ended up quitting and I worked 18 hrs (volountarily) for that day she did her last "no show". The other Nurse is rumored to be quitting; I hope she does.

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This happens a lot in my parts..no call no show is grounds for termination, but no duty was established , no assignment accepted, thus no abandonment. (at least in my state)

Maybe she has her reasons, maybe not, maybe you aren't hearing the whole story...are you really considering reporting her to the BON for unprofessional behavior? Isn't nursing hard enough without our coworkers trying to damage our livlihood because they're mad at us and feel justified in hurting us?

The DON should have got her butt up and came in to help you. I wouldn't work under these conditions personally.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

So sorry, that you faced such an exhausting and potentially dangerous patient care situation.

The NC BON has a similar stance as Colorado: "Abandonment can only occur after the nurse has come on duty for the shift and accepted his/her assignment."

http://www.ncbon.com/prac-rnistate.asp#QUESTIONS%20REGARDING%20SHORT%20STAFFING%20AND%20ABANDONMENT

The NC BON further gives this advice:

When a licensed nurse comes on duty to find that the mix or number of staff is not adequate to meet the nursing care needs of the patients, what should he/she do? Before accepting the assignment, the nurse should contact the immediate supervisor to report the unsafe situation and ask for assistance in care planning based on the available resources within the agency. Such assistance may include:

acquiring more staff

negotiating "periodic" assistance from the immediate supervisor for delivery of specific care activities

prioritizing the care activities that will be delivered during that shift or tour of duty; and

notifying other health care providers regarding the limitations in providing optimal care during periods of understaffing.

In North Carolina, (once the nurse has taken report on an unsafe assignment), there are five high priorities for patient care which cannot be compromised (and for which the nurse is accountable), regardless of staff available:

Although it may be impossible to deliver the type of nursing care that would be delivered with a full complement of staff, there are certain activities that must be carried out regardless of staffing. These activities include:

accurately administering medications and implementing critical medical treatment regimens;

protecting clients at risk from harming themselves;

monitoring client's response to medical and nursing interventions consistent with each client's health care problem;

notifying the physician of deteriorating or unexpected change in a client's status; and

accurately documenting the care delivered to the clients.

http://www.ncbon.com/prac-rnistate.asp#QUESTIONS%20REGARDING%20SHORT%20STAFFING%20AND%20ABANDONMENT

Be safe! I personally wouldn't work in that institution again.

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About your article,

It is my understanding that the FL nurses were fired for insubordination, not charged with patient abandonment. If you check out this thread on the subject, you'll also see that most of us here at allnurses were appalled at the action taken by the FL hospital that fired the nurses.

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78432

About the situation you described,

No call no show is grounds for termination most places I have worked, but it does not constitute patient abandonment in most states, as no patient assignment has been accepted. It is an employer-employee issue, rather than a BON-nurse issue.

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Uh... I NEVER said I would report anyone to the BON. I am discussing my frustrations and lack of understanding as to how someone could do this. Somewhere, in the recesses of my tired brain I was thinking abandonment so I posed the question for a topic of conversation.

I do not understand the story, as I have said, and hoped for feedback and a better understanding of how other facilities are doing this. I believe when people/employees are allowed to continue poor behavior then it only adds to an already stressful environment.

Hence, the reason I am so happy as an Agency Nurse, when I am exposed to such poor mangement / treatment etc I can exercise my option of NOT going back :

As for the FL Nurses, I am appauled that they were fired under such stressful conditions. I am sure they were having to deal with their own issues. I did not see the other thread being discussed.

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