BACKGROUND: The shortage of nurses has become a global phenomenon, and methods of decreasing the attrition rate of nurses have been explored. Resilience was one of the important factors that increased the retention rate of nurses who stayed in this highly stressful profession.OBJECTIVES: To understand how undergraduate nursing students perceive and experience their clinical placements and to identify the factors that helped them build resilience. DESIGN: A qualitative design utilizing focus group interviews was adopted for this study. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen third- and fourth-year undergraduate nursing students in a Bachelor of Nursing program participated in this study. SETTING: This study was conducted at a local university in Singapore. METHOD: Four audio-taped focus group interviews were conducted. RESULTS: Students reported that they were stressed while facing challenges head-on during their first clinical placements, mainly due to a lack of peer and clinical support. Gradually, students built resilience overtime and were able to adapt to the ward culture through peer support and reframing coping strategies. CONCLUSION: Nursing students gradually built resilience after accumulating experiences from their clinical placements. Although they eventually adapted well, peer, clinical, and informational support during clinical placements were lacking. Resilience programs that teach positive coping strategies and mindfulness training could be implemented in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.