Objective:To explore the initial motivation of nursing students to engage in voluntary service for the aged, and to provide scientific basis for the formulation of strategies and measures of voluntary service for the aged.Methods:Totally 25 nursing students volunteers who regularly participated in the volunteer service for the aged in Changsha First Welfare Home were selected by objective sampling method for semi-structured in-depth interviews, and the data were analyzed by Colaizzi phenomenological 7-step analysis method.Results:Four themes of nursing students' initial motivation to participate in voluntary service for the aged were extracted: self-interest motivation, altruistic motivation, affinity motivation and achievement motivation. Among them, self-interest motivation included two sub-themes: enriching college life and life experience, improving one's own ability and gaining professional experience; altruistic motivation included two sub-themes: accompanying and helping the elderly and eliminating loneliness of the elderly; affinity motivation included two sub-themes: establishing emotional sustenance and making up for the lack of emotion; achievement motivation included two sub-themes: facing challenges bravely, acquiring a sense of achievement, serving society and others, and realizing one's own value.Conclusion:Nursing students have a clear initial motivation to participate in the voluntary service for the aged of the aged care facilities, and schools can strengthen the relevant education for students to participate in voluntary service in the training of nursing talents. The voluntary service for the aged can formulate corresponding development strategies and incentives according to the initial motivation of nursing students, so that promote the expansion and stability of the voluntary service for the aged team, and promote the development and improvement of voluntary service for the aged.