Letters of Recommendation From Charge Nurse Instead of Manager

[RNDude2012]

Hello,

Everyone on my unit keeps telling me that my manager will not write a letter of rec for grad school of any sort in an effort to retain staff. We have a pretty high turnover rate due to people leaving for higher pay from surrounding hospitals already, so when it comes to staff leaving, our manager is usually NOT the happiest person. I do have a charge nurse that said he would 100% give me a good letter of rec. Does a LOR from a charge nurse satisfy the letter of rec from a "Clinical Supervisor" requirement? Anyone here get in with a letter of rec from their charge instead of their manager?

Thanks

[gassy2be]

A lot of schools recognize that many unit directors dislike their staff leaving for additional schooling, and therefore will often accept a letter from a charge nurse instead. It would be best, however, to first contact the school and explain the situation and ensure that it would be acceptable. Good luck!

[CCRNCMC11]

Depends on the school. I didn't get one from my manager because I didn't want to announce I was leaving, so I got one from my preceptor. Usually as long as it's someone in a supervisory role of some kind.

[lady_stic]

I agree with the comments above. I would contact the school first and explain the situation but it should be fine. Just make sure you get excellent references from a MD and a CRNA or MDA is a big plus as well.

[JJD3rd]

Sounds like my old unit. My letters of recommendation all came from providers. Acute care NPs, residents, Anesthesia attendings, etc. Our manager refused to write them until 1 year, then 2, then wasnt writing them for anyone lol

[chemokine]

I got them from my preceptor and a charge nurse. This should be fine unless the school is really specific that it has to be the unit manager. If it just says "clinical supervisor" this almost certainly is not specific to a unit manager. In fact a unit manager is probably not a clinical supervisor in many cases. My unit manager was never in any way my clinical supervisor.