I just graduated from nursing school. One thing I did not realize is that most jobs want atleast 2 letters of rec from clinical instructors. To say the least some people are really scrambling for letters of rec right now. I would say suck it up and brown nose clinical instructors. A gift is appropriate in certain instances but card is always appropriate. At the end of the semester you should ask for a letter of rec because clinical instructors get busy at the end of the year. Also while your in your clincals network network network! There is alot of competition out there for new grad nursing slots.