Objectives: To investigate how students, who begin their studies in nursing, understand this profession from their own personal experiences and discover the processes of changing, contributing to the identification with the profession.
Methods: Students from the first year nursing in 2010-2011 participated. Four online discussion groups were established. The grounded theory methodology was used for qualitative analysis.
Results: Before starting studies, the students acknowledged having a vision of nursing as a female profession subordinate to medicine but more human and close. Direct contact with the profession through the family and personal experiences contributed to the development of a conception of nursing as an autonomous profession while the media projected a social image of nursing as an auxiliary profession. With the early learning experiences the students began to experience changes in the meaning of nursing, expanding the look towards their autonomous role and revaluing their competences in the care of the patient.
Discussion: The identification of nursing is established in many cases by comparison with medicine, this circumstance forces to the students to search for distinctive elements of nursing. Early learning experiences, that emphasize the aspects linked to care, contribute to the positive identification with the profession.