riahroo

I don't have much good advice for you because I'm in the same boat. I work in a nursing home and deal with this sort of stuff all day long. In my experience it doesn't do much to complain or ask for help from the higher ups. They don't understand what it's like to be in the trenches. They go by the old adage the customer is always right. I know you feel it is unfair to have to take classes but they may have some beneficial advice for this type of situation.

Is it abandonment if you get really sick during your shift and have to leave immediately? What if the sickness isn't physical? I reported to work last year and before accepting my assignment, I told my supervisor that something was wrong. I felt really weird and out of control. I also reported to her that I had attempted to kill myself shortly before work by taking an excessive amount of mediaction and that I needed help. I was told that there was no one to cover me and to drink some coffee and get to work. I wanted to just leave but didn't want to be fired, I thought maybe I can just work through this. I couldn't. Three hours into my shift I swallowed the rest of the meds I had. I was taken to the hospital after being found unconscious. Now I'm being charged with patient abandonment. They say it's because I was not sick that I made a conscious choice to commit suicide. I argued that if I had had a heart attack I wouldn't be being charged and that in most cases heart disease is caused by a lifetime of conscious choices to eat crappy food, do drugs, smoke, etc. They said it's not the same. So is it abandonment or is it discrimination against the mentally ill?