Have any Nurse Residents had to ask for letters of rec?

[Lulu Belle, RN, EMT-B]

Hi all

I am a new grad RN with an Aug. start date. I am in a position where if I do not attend grad school for fall of 2020, I might not be able to for a long time. Deciding to forgo getting RN experience was not a choice I've made lightly. Anyways.

My issue is that many fall 2020 applications have Nov/Dec/Jan deadlines, which means I will need to ask a manager who has barely seen me off of orientation for a letter of rec for grad school. I have a professor or two I could ask, but it would look awful strange to be a practicing RN and only have academic recs.

Is there ANY way to have this conversation and have it not be career suicide? I realize this is not an ideal situation but I feel like if I don't take this opportunity I would be doing myself a major disservice.

Please advise--this is really stressing me out!

[aspiringcnm3, RN]

It’s not the best look to already be outwardly planning your leave when the unit just spent quite a bit of time and money training you. However, life happens, and a good manager in a healthy work environment should not make this “career suicide” for you. How comfortable the manager will be giving you a recommendation is something personal to the manager. At the end of the day the worst they can really say is no.

When I first graduated, I was just as go-go-go as you. I really just wanted to go straight through to graduate school. But I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t know your situation but grad schools will always be there. I recommend you take some time as a nurse to really learn how to be a nurse. At the very least a year before you think next steps. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it will make a difference. It will help affirm your decision to go to grad school, make applying (and getting in!) easier, and, whether or not it’s fair, also make you more competitive in the job market/respected in the field. Your first year as a nurse changes and challenges you in many ways.

[Lulu Belle, RN, EMT-B]

1 hour ago, aspiringcnm3 said:

It’s not the best look to already be outwardly planning your leave when the unit just spent quite a bit of time and money training you. However, life happens, and a good manager in a healthy work environment should not make this “career suicide” for you. How comfortable the manager will be giving you a recommendation is something personal to the manager. At the end of the day the worst they can really say is no.

When I first graduated, I was just as go-go-go as you. I really just wanted to go straight through to graduate school. But I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t know your situation but grad schools will always be there. I recommend you take some time as a nurse to really learn how to be a nurse. At the very least a year before you think next steps. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it will make a difference. It will help affirm your decision to go to grad school, make applying (and getting in!) easier, and, whether or not it’s fair, also make you more competitive in the job market/respected in the field. Your first year as a nurse changes and challenges you in many ways.

I appreciate your advice, aspiringcnm3. I needed the reminder to slow down. I have a whole soapbox speech about how I feel like every day I spend as an RN is like getting paid to learn, and here I am not practicing what I preach by rushing to get out of the RN role. In that same vein, the more time I spend as an RN, the more areas I find I want to explore, and becoming an NP would foreclose on any opportunities to explore those areas.

I won't bore you with the details, but the long and short of it is that I am a military spouse and have about 3-4 years to finish school before I run the risk of having to move overseas--that's what is motivating me do everything so quickly.