A nurse resigned her job on a cake sent to her Washington state hospital last week, creating a buzz on social media.
Sara Childers' cake at Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Washington June 23 came with the words "official notice" and "I quit" written on it in black frosting, reported
KOMO-TV. It was delivered to the Forensic Ward 2, which she gave a shout out to on the cake as well, noted the television station.
"I kind of just wanted to laugh with everybody again when I left," Childers told KOMO-TV.
The attention around the unique resignation letter allowed Childers to air some of her grievances from the job that only lasted seven months, noted the television station. She charged the staff was not properly supported and complained that management was more interested in punishing workers for mistakes than training them.
"It's such a large institution," Childers told KOMO-TV, adding that the staff was too small and too poorly paid for its number of patients. "It could do so much so good, but it's just one of the worst places right now.
"How do we control the population with such little staff and so many patients? And you can't have individualized treatment that way," Childers said, noted KOMO-TV.
Childers told
ABC News that the problems she saw at Western State Hospital were just part of a larger conversation that is needed about how we view and threat mental illness.
"This is not entirely all of Western State Hospital's fault," Childers told ABC News. "This is a community problem, a statewide problem and a cultural problem. Mental illness is extremely stigmatized."
A Western State Hospital spokeswoman did not address Childers complaints directly to ABC News, but did support the staff there.
"This was quite likely the most unique 'letter' of resignation ever submitted to Western State Hospital," the spokeswoman told ABC News. "Meanwhile, we thank the 2,000 dedicated staff members who do come to work day and night because they find it both challenging and rewarding to help our patients on their journey to recovery."
The resignation cake brought a variety of responses on social media.
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