Patient abandonment question

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Hello, I am a CNA in Arkansas, and I walked out during the middle of my shift because I had no help from the other CNAs. At that point, it was a safety hazard for me and the residents. My question is, would that be considered abandonment under Arkansas law? My LPN friend said no because there was an LPN on the floor at the time. I know it's unethical, but is it illegal? Please provide the Arkansas statute if you can.

Specializes in tele, ICU, CVICU.

Coudn't YOU Google arkansas CNA, or any other myriad number of words and I'm certain you could find the answer yourself.... and you come across as being rude to folks here trying to help you.  You expect strangers online to do the research for you, when it's YOUR question.... that's a bit entitled sounding... 

 

(and I posted to share that you come across as quite rude, and suggesting you Google/search yourself, before you ask me why I bothered to post.) 

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

If you snuck out of the building without telling anyone, that's patient abandonment. If you quit without giving notice, it's not. If you report that you are leaving for the rest of the day due to your assignment being unreasonable, that's also not patient abandonment. 

Example, you call your supervisor and say " this is an unreasonable assignment and I'm not going to do it. I'm quitting effective immediately.” That's not patient abandonment, it's job abandonment. If you tell the nurse taking care of the patients that you're leaving immediately, with or without a reason, also not patient abandonment.

Also not showing up for your shift, calling out, etc all things people have tried to say are patient abandonment that are not.

But if everyone thinks you're busy giving baths and helping residents and when they don't see you, they figure you're in the bathroom or down the other hall, and they believe that you are there handling things, and presumably they are also overwhelmed with a lot of work, that could hurt someone and I think you could be in some trouble for that. 
 

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Sorry if this is harsh, but you felt your patients was safer with LESS staff than with you there?  How did that benefit the patient?  If they report it to the state, you could be in trouble.  

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Notification is the key here. You said there were other cnas but they weren't helping you and there was an Lpn. But did you notify the charge person, the Lpn?, that you were leaving? As long as you notified the charge that you were leaving and didn't just sneak off, and there were other nursing staff there (nursing assistant and/or Nurses) then it is not patient abandonment. It is job abandonment which is not illegal but could cause you problems getting hired elsewhere.... Or not because many facilities don't really care as long as there are bodies on staff. 😕

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Home Health.
JKL33 said:

May I ask why the attitude? Someone who happens to be a well-respected very helpful member here is spending their time doing Google for you? You could apologize. I'm sure the situation you posted about was very unpleasant, lazy coworkers suck. But you came here for help/information  and we haven't done anything to you.

I was just thinking the same. I probably would've given the same response as the previous responder. This almost sounds like a homework problem to me too. However I have run across more than a few snarky CNAs in my time so...

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Jackson1322 said:

You never answered my initial question, and unethical is totally different from illegal...

She literally answered your question.

Jackson1322 said:

I already emailed them but want was the purpose of responding to my question if you didn't even answer it?

Again, she literally answered your question

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JKL33 said:

May I ask why the attitude? Someone who happens to be a well-respected very helpful member here is spending their time doing Google for you? You could apologize. I'm sure the situation you posted about was very unpleasant, lazy coworkers suck. But you came here for help/information  and we haven't done anything to you.

For real. 

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crazin01 said:

Coudn't YOU Google arkansas CNA, or any other myriad number of words and I'm certain you could find the answer yourself.... and you come across as being rude to folks here trying to help you.  You expect strangers online to do the research for you, when it's YOUR question.... that's a bit entitled sounding... 

 

(and I posted to share that you come across as quite rude, and suggesting you Google/search yourself, before you ask me why I bothered to post.) 

For real

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Your LPN friend makes no sense in what they told you (questionable if this conversation actually happened). If an LPN walks out during a shift, is it patient abandonment if a RN happens to be present? It a RN walks out during a shift, is it patient abandonment if an APRN happens to be present? Where does it end by your logic? From what I gather, you just bailed and didn't tell anyone. You walked out on the job, and your patients, without telling anyone. Even if you told your charge that you are walking out, and then you do it, that still doesn't mean you didn't commit patient abandonment. You can't just tell your charge mid-shift that you are leaving and not coming back. Yes, that is also abandonment. That makes no sense and from what I read it is questionable whether you even told anyone. Literally telling your charge that the work is too hard, you aren't being helped, and you are bailing mid-shift does not make it better at all. I don't know what logical paradigm you are using but it's not logical at all. Again, I don't know all the circumstances here but it sounds like you aren't telling the whole story, you are disregarding/disrespecting the help/clarification people on this forum are offering you, and you need to contact an attorney ASAP. 

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Jackson1322 said:

Thank you I'll have to remember that when I move to Alabama.

As though the standards for CNAs is radically different in Alabama compared to Arkansas? Patient abandonment is a pretty universal concept from state to state, and the people on this forum are not your lawyers. It is not their job to find and cite exact case law/state statutes/board regulations that govern your practice as a CNA specifically in the state of Arkansas. I am not sure where you are getting this sense of entitlement. Even if this is just a homework question (and my fear is that it is not), your incredibly disrespectful attitude and responses to the commenters on your post trying to help you is unwarranted. 

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darnold38 said:

I was just thinking the same. I probably would've given the same response as the previous responder. This almost sounds like a homework problem to me too. However I have run across more than a few snarky CNAs in my time so...

Unfortunately, there is a non-zero probability that this is more than simply a homework question. 

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delrionurse said:

She/He did answer it. Yes it is illegal. Go to your regulatory boards website and it should be clear. They were clear in their answer, maybe you didn't want to hear it?

Exactly. Head in the sand no matter how many times OP hears the same answer. 

Even if it wasn't illegal, and ONLY 'unethical' as OP claims, ethics violations still land health care workers in trouble in terms of licensing. Unethical behaviors/practices in the course of their duties have incurred discipline on individuals with professional licenses. 

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