Introduction:

Professional identity in nursing has been defined throughout history, rooted in its essence: care. However, this concept remains abstract in academic training, disconnected from students' identity construction.

Objective:

To reveal how care is conceived from the experiences of nursing students.

Methodology:

Qualitative design using Straussian Grounded Theory at a public university in Peru. Fourteen intern students participated. In-depth interviews and focus groups were used. Systematic-interpretive analysis: open coding (25 codes), axial coding (5 subcategories), and selective coding (1 integrative category). Rigor ensured through multiple triangulations.

Results:

Five subcategories emerged: Care as a central phenomenon integrating all dimensions of identity formation in Nursing; Progressive cognitive construction of care (technical, humanized, holistic, ethical); Recognition of complexity that strengthens professional identity; Emotional burden that validates professional choice; Formation of identity through concrete experience of care. These converge into one integrative category: care as an existential organizer of professional identity in nursing.

Conclusions:

Care functions as a cognitive, ethical, emotional, and professional purpose axis. Curriculum design should position care as a central transversal element. Teachers and mentors are crucial in facilitating this identity formation through modeling and reflective accompaniment.