In this study, the thoughts of elderly individuals on nursing home life are discussed. Nursing homes are seen as places where destitute and lonely live in society. Social, psychological, and economic changes etc. that occur with an aging cause many disadvantages. The main goal is to minimize the disadvantages and problems that are faced by elderly people in nursing homes. It is thought that nursing homes have many contributions to the disadvantages that arise especially in meeting the needs such as shelter, nutrition, and security. Although many researches have been done, the thoughts of nursing home residents about nursing home life do not gain sufficient academic attention. In this paper it is aimed to figure out the essence of nursing home life from the residents' perspective. For this purpose, it is mainly focused on the reasons why residents prefer nursing home life and their experiences in nursing homes. In this study phenomenological qualitative research design was adopted to find out what are the experiences and thoughts of the participants. In-depth interviews lasting 30-60 minutes were conducted with 21 participants in May and June 2019. As a result, the reasons for the nursing home residents to prefer nursing home life were determined by the themes such as financial difficulties, the need for social support, and the search for peace and freedom. In addition, residents define nursing home life as a comfortable life where they can easily meet their daily needs. However, it is understood that nursing home life is a life devoid of the social and psychological support provided by the family for some of the residents. Within the framework of these themes, it was concluded that the essence of nursing home life can be defined by the concepts of necessity, comfort and longing.
