Objective: It is extremely important to provide qualifications that can protect and sustain the existence of profession to the nurses of the future in constantly changing and developing world order. From this point of view, the study was conducted to determine the relationship between individual innovative behavior and autonomy levels. Methods: The descriptive-correlational study was carried out with 283 students studying in nursing department of a Foundation University in Istanbul. The data was collected with the questionnaire form consisted of Individual Information Form, Individual Innovative Scale and the autonomy sub dimension of Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale. The data was evaluated with using descriptive tests, Mann Whitney-U testi, Kruskal Wallis analysis and Spearman correlation analysis. Results: It was determined that the mean score of the students from Individual Innovative Scale was 65,26±8,66 and Autonomy Scale was 81,23±18,18. %36,4 were in the category of late majority innovative behavior. It was determined that there was weak and significant positive correlation between Individual Innovative Behavior and Autonomy Scale (r=0,26; p<0,001). The mean rank of the students in the innovative category was significantly higher at advanced level than the students of other categories (p<0,001). Conclusion: The results of study shows that the individual innovative behavior and autonomy levels of the students were moderately high, there was a positive relationship between the two and the autonomy levels of students in the innovative category was higher. It is suggested that nursing curriculum should be enriched in the way that students develop individual innovative behaviors and autonomy levels.