Recommended Reading
National Study to Track Career Change among Newly Licensed Registered Nurses (NLRN) Web site
By Christine Tassone Kovner, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN, College of Nursing, New York University and Carol Brewer, RN, Ph.D., School of Nursing University of Buffalo
The authors are the co-principal investigators of this study.
Understanding the needs and challenges of newly licensed nurses is a priority to meet the goal of balancing the supply of and demand for RNs. This study aims to examine the first work settings of newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) to learn what influences their first job choice and where they move to afterwards. Is the setting the same or different, and is it in or out of nursing? We are also interested in why NLRNs leave: what was more attractive about the second setting?
The sample includes RNs who obtained their first license to practice as RNs between August 1, 2004 and July 31, 2005. We collected information from 3,266 eligible respondents from 35 states for a 56 percent response rate. Data were collected in the winter of 2006.
Here, we provide early findings from our research, including these interesting facts: