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Background: Nursing students often find self-directed learning in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry challenging to manage alongside busy lifestyles. To address these challenges, it is essential for nurse educators to understand the specific contextual demands that hinder students’ self-directed learning. This study aims to explore and compare contextual demands that challenge young and mature nursing students’ engagement in efficient self-directed learning in bioscience.

Methods: A comparative qualitative content analysis study was conducted to explore contextual demands. Data were collected in November 2024 through written submissions from 98 nursing students. These submissions were analysed via qualitative content analysis to identify and compare patterns related to the contextual demands that challenged self-directed learning between two student groups. This approach provided a clear overview of key patterns, highlighting similarities and differences in the distribution of contextual demands challenging self-directed learning in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry.

Results: The analysis revealed five major categories of challenges: ‘work-related conditions’, such as part-time jobs; ‘social-related conditions’, including social commitments and family responsibilities; ‘conditions related to physical activity’, where students had to balance exercise and academic demands; ‘conditions related to social media usage’, highlighting how digital distractions impacted study focus; and ‘long commutes between home and the academic institution’, which reduced the time available for learning.

Conclusions: The results emphasize the distribution of contextual demands that challenge self-directed learning in biosciences in nursing education, and highlight the need for detailed strategies to address these aspects. The results pave the way for future research and potential policy adjustments to better support nursing students in managing their academic and personal obligations.