MyCLPNA
Professional Responsibility and Accountability Series: Abandonment of Care
In 2025, the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA) will share information on topics related to professional responsibility and accountability. This month’s topic is abandonment of care.
The duty to provide quality care is fundamental to professional nursing practice. Once a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) accepts a care assignment, they are required to:
- Be readily available to provide agreed upon client care,
- Transfer care to a suitable care provider, or
- Provide the employer with reasonable notice and ensure transfer of care to a suitable care provider.
A suitable care provider is another person who is authorized and competent to provide the agreed-upon care. Reasonable notice is determined in collaboration with the employer based on client risks, availability of resources, and other relevant factors.
Abandonment of care occurs when an LPN fails to meet the requirements listed above. This can result in a complaint.
Example: Managing Breaks
An LPN is the only nurse on shift overnight at a Type B care home. They are supervising two experienced, competent HCAs. The LPN’s care assignment during the night shift involves responding to bells and supporting clients with other needs.
Once they believe that the clients are asleep, the LPN and the HCAs all take a fifteen-minute break, at the same time, outside of the communication area.
In that time, a client calls for assistance, but the LPN and her coworkers can’t hear the request for help from where they are taking their break. As a result, the client is left waiting for care.
The way that the LPN managed breaks in this example was considered abandonment of care. By allowing all staff to go on break at the same time, the LPN failed to arrange for transfer of care to a suitable care provider. Even if clients were only left unattended for fifteen minutes, this is still abandonment of care. None of the providers in this example were able to hear a client call, meaning the client would not have received the care they needed.
