​Implications for practice and research

• Students who do not succeed in capturing the learning process need a supportive and safe educational environment.

• Accurate information provision and individualised support are needed to close the gap between reality and student expectations of clinical placement.

​Context

Dropping out of nursing education exacerbates the shortage of nurses, which has already become a global issue. This study by Bakker and colleagues has focused on nursing students who dropout late, especially after the third year of their nursing programme. Although researchers have suggested student profile characteristics and affective factors as causes of dropout, studies on late dropouts are limited.1 Late dropouts incur significant …