The Next Step

So, I graduated in May, passed NCLEX in July, and had my first interview at the beginning of this month. I interviewed with both the recruiter and hiring manager, and both went very well. They invited me to shadow, and the hiring manager asked me to followup with him via email about my shadowing experience. I emailed him my experience and interest in the position. He replied this past Thursday with "Thank you! I will forward to human resources and hope for the best." This was almost a week after my shadowing.

I texted his reply to a friend of mine (who works at the hospital that I interviewed at) and asked her what her interpretation of the email was. It took her a minute to reply back, and when she did she said that she was with her coworker in the cafe and she asked her coworkers opinion who replied "Oh, there is John Doe (hiring manager)! Let me ask him!" *cringe* So, yeah, kind of unprofessional -- I had NO CLUE this was going to happen, didn't even know my friend was at work.

My friend texted me back and said "Great news! He said you "got the job" and plans on offering you the position and hopes you will take it!". Okay... great... but I still haven't heard back from HR! I know that I am being impatient, but I really want something set in stone, not just word of mouth.

My initial interview was August 8th, my shadowing experience was on August 10th, and the hiring manager replied back to my email on August 16th.

So... should I email the recruiter and try to get some feedback to get the ball rolling?? I know the next training session for new nurses doesn't start until Sept 10th, so I am not sure if they don't feel the need to hire with urgency because we can't start training until then anyways?? Yes, I am driving myself insane about this!!

Thanks in advance for any replies.