Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part A (2025)

Attendance is a critical component in nursing education, as it directly contributes to the development of both theoretical understanding and clinical competence. Absenteeism among nursing students in clinical and theory classes has become a serious cause of concern that affects academic performance and skill development. Though absenteeism is prevalent among all fields of education, post the COVID-19 pandemic most medical institutions are experiencing high rates of absenteeism among students in both clinical areas and classes after almost two years of online mode. The present study aims to explore factors contributing to absenteeism among nursing students. In June 2025, an exploratory approach with non- probability total enumerative sampling technique selected 250 nursing students from a nursing college. Data was collected using a self-structured questionnaire to assess various factors contributing to absenteeism. The findings revealed that institutional factors (mean = 20.15 ± 4.17) were the most significant contributors to absenteeism, followed by psychological and motivational factors (16.82 ± 3.25), personal factors (16.62 ± 3.61), clinical factors (11.45 ± 2.78), and environmental factors (9.6 ± 2.36). A majority of students (77.2%) showed a moderate connection to absenteeism, while 13.2% had a strong alignment. Significant associations were found between absenteeism and variables such as year of study (p = 0.001), academic performance (p = 0.002), current residence (p = 0.009), and living arrangements (p = 0.015). It was concluded that institutional shortcomings, psychological fatigue and academic overload are the leading contributors to absenteeism among nursing students. Institutions should improve academic support, offer mental health services, upgrade living conditions, and set up early intervention systems to reduce absenteeism among nursing students.