Patient abandonment question

Published

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.

nightwingcreations said:

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. 😕

I partially disagree. You can't simply walk up to an immediate superior on your unit and tell them you are bailing and then leave. I don't see how that would completely absolve you of patient abandonement. Nursing is not working at a retail clothing store. If you accept an assignment, including the responsibilities of duty of care to those patients, and then decide to just walk away in the middle of it regardless of who you tell the moment you do, that is a LOT of hot water you are diving into. 

Same goes for the LPN/charge. they can't just call the supervisor/manager/house supervisor and just leave mid-shift just because they told someone. CNA > LPN > RN > Charge > Supervisor > House Supervisor/Manager > Nursing director of facility/module > CNO. By your logic you could make the argument that everyone on this list up to but excluding CNO could just up and leave mid-shift as long as the person directly superior to them was notified in that moment.

5
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

Are your fingers non functional?

What prevents you from doing the same Google search?

And FYI, if those were my patients that you abandoned I would spend the little energy I have left at the end of the day to ensure that you face consequences for your actions. 

If you had come to me and said 'Tenebrae, I have no help from the CNAS and I have all this stuff to do, I would have bent over backwards to either help you or ensure that you had the help that you need to make sure that the work gets done"

6
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Tenebrae said:

Are your fingers non functional?

What prevents you from doing the same Google search?

And FYI, if those were my patients that you abandoned I would spend the little energy I have left at the end of the day to ensure that you face consequences for your actions. 

If you had come to me and said 'Tenebrae, I have no help from the CNAS and I have all this stuff to do, I would have bent over backwards to either help you or ensure that you had the help that you need to make sure that the work gets done"

👍

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatrics.
Barriss Offee said:

I partially disagree. You can't simply walk up to an immediate superior on your unit and tell them you are bailing and then leave. I don't see how that would completely absolve you of patient abandonement. Nursing is not working at a retail clothing store. If you accept an assignment, including the responsibilities of duty of care to those patients, and then decide to just walk away in the middle of it regardless of who you tell the moment you do, that is a LOT of hot water you are diving into. 

Same goes for the LPN/charge. they can't just call the supervisor/manager/house supervisor and just leave mid-shift just because they told someone. CNA > LPN > RN > Charge > Supervisor > House Supervisor/Manager > Nursing director of facility/module > CNO. By your logic you could make the argument that everyone on this list up to but excluding CNO could just up and leave mid-shift as long as the person directly superior to them was notified in that moment.

Actually yes, the lpn/ charge can do that if the supervisor is on the floor and takes a report off them and accepts the responsibility.And as upper management they pretty much have to accept it.  No you can't just call them on the phone. It's easier for CNA though because they are working under the nurses license.  As far as the CNAs, definitely can just walk off if they tell their nurse , that is on the floor with the patients they have because the residents are not being left with no staff at all. And in this case they said there were other CNAs there too.   

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
nightwingcreations said:

Actually yes, the lpn/ charge can do that if the supervisor is on the floor and takes a report off them and accepts the responsibility.And as upper management they pretty much have to accept it.  No you can't just call them on the phone. It's easier for CNA though because they are working under the nurses license.  As far as the CNAs, definitely can just walk off if they tell their nurse , that is on the floor with the patients they have because the residents are not being left with no staff at all. And in this case they said there were other CNAs there too.   

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should

6
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.

"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."

So you made it exponentially worse by walking out? You CLEARLY didn't care about any potential "safety hazard" OR your residents. 

You only compounded the problem. 

Please don't ever work where my friends, family or I might seek healthcare!  

You very well might lose your certification as a CNA as you should, for walking out on your residents that you had already accepted an assignment for. 

Good luck in Nursing school if this is your mentality!

5
Up Vote Up Vote ×
nightwingcreations said:

Actually yes, the lpn/ charge can do that if the supervisor is on the floor and takes a report off them and accepts the responsibility.And as upper management they pretty much have to accept it.  No you can't just call them on the phone. It's easier for CNA though because they are working under the nurses license.  As far as the CNAs, definitely can just walk off if they tell their nurse , that is on the floor with the patients they have because the residents are not being left with no staff at all. And in this case they said there were other CNAs there too.   

"If the supervisor is on the floor and takes report off then and accepts responsibility" are the words YOU used. OP did not say they did this. That is what I am getting at. 

4
Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ohhhhhhh Jackson1322 I hope you know now than to start poking at a nest of RN's... or at least you do now 😳

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Jackson1322 said:

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

What prevents you from doing your own research? 

BTW, they answered your question. Also, these people answered your question for free. 

 

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

For those electing to go the challenge method to licensing it can be a good way to jump start your nursing career as long as you go into it aware of the possible ramifications. Most  states will not grant a license by endorsement so if you plan on ever moving out of state you will likely not be granted a license and will have to go to school before you can continue working as a nurse.  There are also many employers within the state that do not accept that license so your job options are a bit more limited. 

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
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 think the reason why no other CNA wants to help this person has become abundantly clear. 😒

5
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SNF.

What you did is abandonment. While I do understand you feel like it was an unsafe situation. However, your actions led to a worse situation for those patients. I personally refer the certification or license for any staff that abandons the patients I oversee. I think if more leaders did this the dangerous trend of staff feeling like this is acceptable behavior would slow. 

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion