Who is failing who? A survey exploration of the barriers & enablers to accurate decision making when nursing students' competence is below required standards.

Healthcare practice supports the achievement of programme learning outcomes for nursing students internationally. Within this context the issue of reluctance to fail nursing students, when warranted, is extensively examined within the literature with few definitive solutions emerging. Little is known about the perceived barriers that exacerbate this reluctance, or about factors that might enable and support nurses to fail students.