The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe how students in an accelerated master’s degree entry program experientially learned the practice of nursing. One research question examined in this study was: What formative experiences did students identify as helping them develop and differentiate their clinical practice? Data from clinical observations and a combination of small group and individual interviews were collected and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological methods. Students identified formative skills learned through the independent care of a patient as pivotal in their identity and agency development. By experiencing the responsibility and action from within the body and from within concrete situations, students developed a new understanding that changed their embodied ways of perceiving and orienting to the situation, as well as their skills and sense of agency.