Letters of Recommendation/Reference?

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

If any of you are involved in the hiring process for a NICU: Do you appreciate letters of recommendation, or are they a waste of time? Does a well-written LOR sway you in any manner during the interview process?

I'm specifically speaking of letters from NICU charge nurses or other nurses with many years of excellent NICU experience...for a nurse that needs to move on, but only has a couple years experience.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Our HR is really the only ones that see any of that, we never get to see them. HR will call the person that wrote the letter and do the standard, do you think they are a good employee, did you like working with them, please tell us their strengths, etc. And with most applications, it is all on line now and you list your references there. I'd have them listed as references :)