Final answer:
The nurse manager can consider several options after a nurse quits abruptly, but reporting the nurse for abandonment of care would be valid only if the nurse left without ensuring patient care transfer. Legal implications such as nurse abandonment are the most serious concerns. The manager could also attempt reconciliation or allow the nurse time to reconsider.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a staff nurse abruptly quits and leaves the facility after a verbal altercation, it can be a complicated situation for the nurse manager. The nurse manager may choose between several courses of action:
- Call to ask the nurse to come back. This would be an attempt at reconciliation, hoping to resolve the issue amicably.
- Report the nurse for abandonment of care. This is a serious allegation and implies that the nurse has left assigned patients without ensuring a proper handover to another qualified professional, thus potentially endangering patient safety.
- Have the police arrest the nurse. This would likely be inappropriate as quitting a job is not a criminal offense unless there's more to the situation, such as intentional harm or theft.
- Let the nurse cool off and come back when ready. This could be an informal approach allowing the nurse some time to reconsider their decision.
Legally and ethically, the most significant concern is the potential for nurse abandonment, which is a situation where a nurse discontinues care of a patient without properly transferring the responsibility of care. However, it is unclear from the scenario if the nurse has taken responsibility for patient care or not, which affects whether the nurse's actions would constitute abandonment. Typically, a thorough investigation would need to take place before reporting to the Board of Nursing to determine if patient abandonment has truly occurred.