Would this be considered abandonment?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

Specializes in NP student.

I work in a poorly managed post acute/LTC we don't even have DON at this moment (within the past 3 months it's the third one that quit). I work 7-3pm only RN for 120+ pt's and very often it happens that the next shift is either 2 hr late or non show.

Last Sunday, I worked by myself and of course nobody showed up for 3-11 pm shift, administrator made me stay even though I didn't want to and ended up doing 16hr shift ( I have a baby at home to take care of). They paid me extra but I really don't want their bonuses I just want leave on time.

The most frustrating part of this is that nobody informs me about who is coming to the next shift and usually at 4 pm I start calling ppl and finding out that there's no one to work. I'm so frustrated.

If I clock out at 3 pm and go would that be considered an abandonment?

Technically my shift is over at 3, I just feel bad for residents that's why I stayed but I can't be doing this over and over again.

32 Answers

Yes that would constitute abandonment and you would likely end up before the BON or worse. Find another job.

Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, Geriatrics, home infusion.

That sounds completely unsafe! Definitely give your resignation ASAP, run don't walk!

1 hour ago, Twinkle007 said:

I’m so frustrated, my question is: if I clock out at 3 pm and go would that be considered an abandonment?

Yes; that would meet the textbook definition of abandonment--leaving patients without reporting off to an RN for continuance of their care.

Professionally-speaking it's best to give a proper notice, but an "effective immediately" resignation is appropriate for such an unsafe scenario. It sounds like the 120 patient load isn't a new development though? Yikes.

Yes by definition patient abandonment. You may also want to research how many hours straight RNs are allowed to work. Management is also obligated to ensure safe staffing is present. You cannot abandon patients but they cannot also make you work past a safe amount of hours. Also: run! This job is not worth it.

You are being abused, no doubt about it. That just really boggles the mind.

This is actually state dependent. CT Board of Nursing has declared that if your shift is over and you have made it clear that you are not accepting the next shift, then the employer cannot charge you with abandonment for not accepting mandatory overtime (it also said in the statement that it is an employer- employee issue and that the employer fire you). Staffing is the facility's responsibility, not the individual RN. 

On 2/9/2020 at 10:53 PM, egg122 NP said:

This is actually state dependent. CT Board of Nursing has declared that if your shift is over and you have made it clear that you are not accepting the next shift, then the employer cannot charge you with abandonment for not accepting mandatory overtime (it also said in the statement that it is an employer- employee issue and that the employer fire you). Staffing is the facility's responsibility, not the individual RN.

That's a nice/interesting document; I appreciate that they have stepped up and called out bad behavior.

But in their statements they do not (in black and white) essentially change the definition of patient abandonment. That is to say, they are kind of on a roll and then all of a sudden stop short of saying that walking away from patients at the end of the shift (when one is being told there is no replacement) is not patient abandonment. I suspect that's because it still is. (?)

They say:

Quote

Failure of a nurse to work beyond her/his scheduled work shift will not constitute patient abandonment as defined by the Board.

They outline the impetus for their statement at the beginning of the statement: Employers using mandatory OT or mandatory extended shifts as their first-line staffing plan and then when staff balk telling them that they will be reported to the BON for "patient abandonment" if they don't agree to the extended hours. So, from my reading they seem to be addressing the inappropriate use of mandatory overtime and the inappropriate threats that go along with it more than they are addressing actually walking away from patients. The quoted statement above, in context, basically says if you are advised that you will need to work 16* instead of 8*, you can inform your employer that you will not be doing that (and that they need to find someone to come in instead of using you as the staffing plan) and they can't fire back that you will stay or be reported for patient abandonment. Great/wonderful.

But that ^ scenario is not the same as: "Welp, no one is here and I'm leaving."

Even if it does say what I'm pretty sure it isn't saying (that you freely walk out of an LTC full of patients leaving literally no nurse) there's no way I would do it. I would inform them that I was calling the Ombudsman (or whomever you all call for pt rights violations), the state and whatever emergency resources were available, even 911--and then I would do those things/raise absolute h*ll before I would just walk away from all the patients.

I can't believe the document is actually allowing that. What say you all?

Specializes in school nurse.

Don't leave before you're relieved, but once you are, leave for good.

18 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

Don't leave before you're relieved, but once you are, leave for good.

Best solution. They can’t force you to come back. If you want to line up your next job, fine, but I don’t think you are going to get a neutral reference from this employer no matter how you go. So just go. After you are relieved from your last worked shift.

On 2/10/2020 at 12:38 AM, JKL33 said:

That's a nice/interesting document; I appreciate that they have stepped up and called out bad behavior.

But in their statements they do not (in black and white) essentially change the definition of patient abandonment. That is to say, they are kind of on a roll and then all of a sudden stop short of saying that walking away from patients at the end of the shift (when one is being told there is no replacement) is not patient abandonment. I suspect that's because it still is. (?)

They say:

They outline the impetus for their statement at the beginning of the statement: Employers using mandatory OT or mandatory extended shifts as their first-line staffing plan and then when staff balk telling them that they will be reported to the BON for "patient abandonment" if they don't agree to the extended hours. So, from my reading they seem to be addressing the inappropriate use of mandatory overtime and the inappropriate threats that go along with it more than they are addressing actually walking away from patients. The quoted statement above, in context, basically says if you are advised that you will need to work 16* instead of 8*, you can inform your employer that you will not be doing that (and that they need to find someone to come in instead of using you as the staffing plan) and they can't fire back that you will stay or be reported for patient abandonment. Great/wonderful.

But that ^ scenario is not the same as: "Welp, no one is here and I'm leaving."

Even if it does say what I'm pretty sure it isn't saying (that you freely walk out of an LTC full of patients leaving literally no nurse) there's no way I would do it. I would inform them that I was calling the Ombudsman (or whomever you all call for pt rights violations), the state and whatever emergency resources were available, even 911--and then I would do those things/raise absolute h*ll before I would just walk away from all the patients.

I can't believe the document is actually allowing that. What say you all?

Yeah, let's see how a lawsuit goes if the only nurse leaves and something that could have been prevented simply by having a nurse provide expected care happens.

The facility is sued, but I'm betting the nurse is too. Not a chance I would want to take financially, and not a position I would want to put my patients in.

I'd absolutely quit, though, and report to whomever I could to try to get that practice shut down.

Specializes in Operating Room, CNOR.

I would quit IMMEDIATELY, no 2 week notice. This is UNSAFE, and I usually don't recommend quitting without 2 week notice, except in situations like these where it is unsafe and you are being so obviously screwed over. I would simply call or email saying this is my notice effective immediately and I will not be back. Any new job that you apply to will understand if you say you left due to unsafe conditions that put your license at risk. I have done that before no problem.

4 hours ago, Horseshoe said:

Yeah, let's see how a lawsuit goes if the only nurse leaves and something that could have been prevented simply by having a nurse provide expected care happens.

The facility is sued, but I'm betting the nurse is too. Not a chance I would want to take financially, and not a position I would want to put my patients in.

I'd absolutely quit, though, and report to whomever I could to try to get that practice shut down.

It's not saying that the only nurse can leave. It's just saying that the only nurse can refuse to work a second shift. Connecticut law is that all supervisors have to be RNs. If they can't find someone to cover, guess who's responsible for working on the floor that night. It's addressing those managers threatening to report the nurse for abandonment because they failed to get coverage for a shift and the nurse said that they have to go home. Care still has to be passed off to another present nurse, but the state is making it clear that it's not abandonment to refuse to work overtime, it's only abandonment if you leave the patients without a nurse present. But common sense is still going to apply in emergencies and sudden blizzards where you're just not going to have a choice.

Basically, as long as your scheduled shift is over, you can't leave until another RN takes over your patients, but demanding your manager find an RN or they go into work and take over the shift, is NOT abandonment. It's just clarifying that abandonment is only leaving the patients with no nurse. As long as you can handoff to another nurse before you walk out the door, you're allowed the quit in the middle of your shift and they can't call it abandonment.

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