Hospitals and Letters of recommendations

[NICUnLDRN]

So I am officially a senior nursing school student!! I still have a couple of semesters to go but I want to start collecting letters of recommendations. When searching for jobs some state that they want at least 2 letters of recommendations so my question is when should I start asking my professors and clinical preceptors for them?

I want to start collecting them now but im not sure on how different hospitals want them. Do different jobs want the letters directly from whom I’ve asked from their email? Do hospitals want my letters of recommendations to be signed or sealed in envelopes by my professors before being sent off? Or can I just start collecting them now and then when I start applying to jobs I will be able to just attach them to my application?

I’m not really sure on if the letters of recommendation different hospitals want need to be confidential and sent a specific way directly from my professors or if my professors can just directly send them to me and I can just attach it to theapplication. Hopefully this makes sense. 

[Sour Lemon]

I imagine no sane person would expect an instructor to send letters directly to an employer for each application and each student.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

Many jobs want references but not necessarily letters of recommendation. They understand that not every nursing school student can find an instructor to write a letter, they would be writing hundreds of them a year! Certainly some specific internships or academic programs might require a letter, but they will usually have a specific email for a letter to be sent. Not many places are going to accept a pre-written letter even if it's in a sealed envelope. I remember asking two previous instructors for recommendations when I went back for my MSN program, but I don't think I've ever had any letters for employers. Good luck!

[klone, MSN, RN]

They don't actually need letters, just references. Ask a few of your instructors for permission, and then you will need to provide the instructors' names and email addresses.