This study was conducted to discover what nursing students experience during their first impressions regarding the operating room and describe the feelings and thoughts they feel. Qualitative research study design. It included 32 students who were having their first internships at the operating room. The in-depth interviews conducted with the participants lasted for about 30-45 minutes. Five themes explaining the phenomenon of being a student at the operating room were determined. By in vivo coding, the expression of "waiting like a robot" by a male student was determined as a theme label and it received 73 references. The other four themes were as follows: "Interpersonal and environmental factors: supportive (f = 282), preventive (f = 275)", "live observation (f = 97)" "permanent learning involving knowledge, skill, behavior and value (f = 155)" and "recommendations for a prepared process (f = 109)". The results reflected the factors affecting learning at the operating room and clues regarding a contextual structure in terms of providing a clinically feasible environment. Internship experience in the operating room offers to develop students' critical practice skills. Knowledge, skills and values can be better understood through live testimony in the operating room. [This study was presented at the 3rd International & 11th National Congress of Turkish Surgical and Operating Room Nurses on October 3-6, 2019.]