Staff-student relationships are key to students' experience of belongingness. Understanding the types of interactions and behaviours that facilitate or impede students' belongingness and learning are essential to the creation of positive clinical experiences.

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Mentorship is pivotal to students' clinical experiences and is instrumental in preparing them for their role as confident and competent practitioners.

The future of the nursing profession depends upon the development of confident, competent professionals with a healthy self-concept and a commitment to patient-centred care and self-directed learning. This paper demonstrates that the realisation of this goal is strongly influenced by the extent to which students' clinical placement experiences promote and enhance their sense of belonging.