Table 1.

Abstraction of teams.

Quotations	Subthemes	Main theme
One should try to help, but not becoming too involved and too touched. But that is impossible, I won’t manage it, because then I will become cold. So it is a difficult balance, I think	Vulnerable students striking a professional balance	Vulnerable students - a journey towards professional empathy and moral courage
One of them, she was very realistic in a way, and very kind. And she was good. One could see that she had done this before, in a way, that she knew exactly what to say, and that sometimes you do not need to say much at all. (…) She seemed to be confident. (student describing a role model)	Vulnerable students and the importance of good role models’
It has to be serious, if I’m going to mention it to my nurse-supervisor in practice, as a student. If I was one of the staff, I think I would be more straightforward, but not as a student. (…) It is the role of a student’	Vulnerable students struggling with showing moral courage’