There has been increasing interest in student nurse attrition due to the
high level of attrition rates in many countries. Studies about nursing
education and attrition have been conducted internationally, but only a
few have explored attrition from the perspective of the students' own
experiences. The purpose of this study was to describe who is a
discontinued student in nursing education and the students' own
experiences of reasons for leaving a nursing school. A descriptive
design and qualitative approach was used. 25 nursing students were
interviewed at two different universities of applied sciences in
Finland. Four different types of discontinued nursing students were
identified: those who moved to another school, those who faced a life
crisis, those who made the wrong career choice and those who lived 'busy
years'. The results show that the nursing student population is
diverse, which has an effect on the students' career intentions, their
learning and their ability to cope with studies. In nursing education,
it is important to identify students who are at risk of discontinue
their studies and develop individual support systems to help nursing
students complete their studies and enter into the workforce.