Resigning from CNA job--help!!

[crhoward13186]

Hello fellow nurses-

I have been working as a CNA for about seven months now at a rehab facility. About 2 1/2 months ago I was involved in a MVA which has lead to me having chronic back pain and bouts of severe anxiety while driving. My employer was unable to accomodate the restrictions that my docctor had requested for me during my treatment, so I have been out of work basically since September 30. Recently, my employer has called me harrassing me, threatening to find me a replacement if I do not return to work this weekend. Even though I do not feel 100% ready to return to work, I had my doctor write me a note clearing me to work because I can not afford to not be working. I am supposed to go back to work tomorrow.

My workplace, to me, is an absolute nightmare. I get ZERO help from other CNAs and RNs/LPNs on the floor, yet I am expected to be a "team player" and help everyone else. I take care of patients who are usually twice to almost three times my body weight, getting them out of bed, assisting them to the bathroom or shower, etc. (Nothing like what I do in my clinicals, which I would much rather be doing.) And with my recent onset of back pain, I do not feel prepared to have to move these patients on my own. Even thinking about coming back to work creates such anxiety for me because I am scared that I will cause more damage (both physical and emotional) to myself. I have already spoken once to my nurse manager about this, and she said "she would take care of it". But to be perfectly honest, I have a gut feeling that I'm going to go back to work tomorrow and it's going to be hell.

In the interim, I have received a job offer from a different facility where I had applied to months ago before beginning classes for this semester. It is in the field I am looking for (pediatrics/NICU) and I would be starting the end of December. I would really like to just tell my current employer that I will not be returning, for my own health's sake, and use the time between now and when I begin the new job to focus on finishing my semester and getting myself healthier.(I have also been seeing a LCSW for my anxiety, and she has said to me that I need to make myself a priority and not this job, especially because it creates such anxiety for me and she would hate to see me lose any progress that I have made.)

Any advice on what I should do is greatly appreciated. Do I suck it up for two weeks and work, then resign? Do I just go in there today and speak to my nurse manager, tell her my situation, and leave right then and there? (In my opinion, I would like to do the latter, only because I feel like I've been taken advantage of, and with how they have treated me the last two months with not working, they don't deserve the courtesy of two weeks notice. If they were threatening to replace me, then do it. I don't need this aggravation and stress.)

[sjbrk]

I am usually all for being extremely professional and giving two weeks.

However.

You have to take care of YOU. It is very clear that your employer doesn't really care about you and your injuries. Furthermore, they have covered your shift for two MONTHS -- which is obviously longer than a two week notice. I'd say...go talk to your boss in person and let her know you are moving on, effective immediately. They basically told you they have a replacement, so... I would be done.