One response to the nursing shortage is to increase promotion and retention in nursing programs: However, negative attitudes of nurses threaten student progression and retention. A phenomenological study explored the lived experience of nurses who worked with student nurses to discover "what" attitudes nurses had toward student nurses and "how" negative attitudes were developed. One time semi-structured informal audio taped interviews were conducted with six nurses. Data analysis identified the emerging themes as professional socialization attitudes, beliefs about nursing education, role expectations, and motivational deterrent, and communication factors. Findings suggest collaborative strategies to reduce negative attitudes and promote positive, professional socialization behaviours of nurses toward student nurses in the clinical environment. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)