This is a qualitative study aimed to learn the signs and symptoms of the burnout syndrome among undergraduate nursing students, by means of semi-structured interviews with 24 nursing undergraduates from a public university in the south of Brazil. The discursive textual analysis was used and defined three categories, related to the dimensions of the burnout syndrome in students: emotional exhaustion, disbelief and low professional efficacy. The specificities of the situations experienced by students are associated with emotional exhaustion, contributing to the detachment from their studies and compromising their sense of professional efficacy. The worn-out signs, detachment from studies and inefficacy mentioned by the students demand appropriate attention and consideration from higher education institutions, provided with the planning and implementation of actions to minimize the stress caused by the identified situations, which seem to be associated with the development of the burnout dimensions among students.
Students, nursing; Burnout, professional; Nursing education