Abstract: Nursing students have only recently learnt in-depth physical assessment skills within degree programmes in New Zealand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experience of learning physical assessment skills for the first time from the student's experience. In exploring this experience it was hoped to uncover some of the factors, beneficial or not, which influence their learning process. Data was collected by two methods. Firstly through two non-participant observations of a class of sixteen pre-registration male and female nursing students at an urban tertiary institute. Secondly through taped in-depth interviews with a female and a male student, from the group, individually and then together. The data was analysed using coding categories suggested by Bogdan and Biklen (1992) and emerging themes related to the process of learning new knowledge and skills. The four themes identified were: students working at learning, tutors facilitating learning, students facilitating learning and learning in clinical practice