https://nurseguidance.com/abandonment-what-it-is-and-is-not/It is important to stress that while the site rightly points out the distinction between patient abandonment, and employment abandonment, there is an on-going healthcare worker shortage in the US. Too many patients, not enough staff. It is endemic, all over the US, and especially troublesome for long term care settings.
By being at work, and having received report at the beginning of your shift, if you 'Just walk out' to quit, likely this will result in your patients under your care not having correct, proper, or sufficient supervision or oversight, which then immediately qualifies as patient abandonment, since you did not get a replacement for you before storming out.
Patient abandonment is an elder care neglect infraction, and it can result in termination of your license. (at least in the US.) It can also result in actionable legal consequences, should somebody be harmed as a result of your not being there. In a perfect world, the facility you work at would/should contact a staffing agency to get an emergency replacement, but that isn't always possible.
Nice to know that it isn't as draconian as fuck over in the EU, but here in the states, they just love sticking it to you for daring to demand better working conditions, and terminating vocation on the spot for failure to comply on the part of the employer. (Not that it matters, every employer will likely have shit conditions, due to the worker shortage.)
I should go through the full nursing program thing and become an RN; I hear there is a nurse shortage everywhere these days. Maybe I could move out of this backward hellhole of a country, where I provide healthcare to others, but cannot afford it myself.