Daring involvement and the importance of compulsory activities as first-year students learn person-centred care in nursing homes

Two hundred and eighty-four reflective journals and eight focus group interviews from 36 first-year students were analysed using grounded theory. The students' main concern was How to become a professional nurse, and was resolved in a two-phased substantive grounded theory called Daring involvement. In the first phase, labelled Musting, students use the strategies of Accepting assignments, Exposing experiences and Reflecting. When students discover the humanity in the older residents, their motivation changes from external to internal motivation and they proceed to phase two; Enlivening the person. This phase has four strategies: Tuning in, Key searching, Overcoming obstacles and Involving in activities. When students discover the residents as fellow human beings and involve themselves in a therapeutic relationship, a reciprocal process starts and both residents and students feel enlivened. The students feel rewarded and this grows their professional identity.