ABSTRACT Aim This study aimed to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of nursing students regarding their emotional labour behaviour and their encounters with managing feelings in healthcare settings. Design A qualitative exploratory interpretive phenomenological design was conducted among 21 nursing students from different academic levels at one major university in Saudi Arabia. Methods Three focus group discussions were carried out and thematic analysis was adopted to generate the findings. This study was reported using the COREQ Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results Inductive and deductive thematic analyses were used. The emergent themes were matched to the emotional labour conceptual framework. This resulted in three subthemes namely, “pretending”, “repression” and “distress” under the first main theme “surface acting”. The second theme “deep acting” reflected on professionalism and relationship of emotional labour to patient centered care. Finally, the third theme “genuine acting” had two subthemes; “favourable emotions” and “unfavourable emotions”. Students' interactions with patients and their effectiveness during clinical practice are both impacted by emotional labour behaviour. Receiving more education and training, as well as support from employed nurses and instructors can help students in controlling their emotions, thus safeguarding quality of care. Patient or Public Contribution No Patient or Public Contribution.
Dalyal Alosaimi (2026) studied this question.