Hospital policy: no letters of recommendation?

[Stratiotes]

Has anyone encountered this? According to my director and verified by HR, it is hospital policy to not write letters of reference due to liability. It is nice to find this out after 18 months of employment.

[icu2crna]

Sounds like my old employer. The program I am in now have had several students from this hospital and they were OK with references from coworkers and charge nurses.

Which school did they go to? Most of the schools I looked at ask references from manager.

[DFW_RN]

Anyone under contract or unable to get a reference letter from their manager should get a reference letter from their supervisor, charge nurse, or both. I have been accepted into three different programs after four interviews and my manager did not write references for me, rather my clinical supervisor. Most programs prefer the reference to come someone who works directly with the applicant (at the bedside), and not from the nurse manager. If you are unable to obtain the references, either you're not a good ICU nurse, or you should leave that facility in my opinion.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Anyone under contract or unable to get a reference letter from their manager should get a reference letter from their supervisor, charge nurse, or both. I have been accepted into three different programs after four interviews and my manager did not write references for me, rather my clinical supervisor. Most programs prefer the reference to come someone who works directly with the applicant (at the bedside), and not from the nurse manager. If you are unable to obtain the references, either you're not a good ICU nurse, or you should leave that facility in my opinion.

OR the unit has a policy -- as ours does -- against ANYONE writing reference letters unless the person has been employed for two continuous years following the end of their orientation.