New York University's College of Nursing has received a 5-year, $1.96 million grant to track changes in the careers of newly licensed nurses. Researchers plan to periodically survey 5,000 new RNs during the first 4 years of their careers to study why they remain in or leave their positions. They hope their findings will ease the nursing shortage by helping employers improve work environments and retain nurses.

Christine Kovner, RN, PhD, FAAN, and the study's lead researcher, wants to explore why newly licensed RNs seem to leave hospital positions more frequently than experienced RNs. She hopes the study will reveal whether new nurses are simply leaving a particular setting or getting out of the profession altogether.

The grant was awarded by the Robert Wood John-son Foundation.