Objective To explore the contradictory learning experiences of nursing students in humanistic nursing courses and their underlying logic, in order to provide insights into the teaching context of such courses. Methods A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on 511 open-ended written feedback texts from third-year undergraduate nursing students who had completed all huma-nistic nursing courses at a medical university. NVivo software was used for coding, and themes were constructed and interpretatively analyzed from a reflexive standpoint. Results Three interrelated themes were identified, revealing multiple layers of structural tension in students′ learning experiences:conflict between course recognition and limited learning participation (high recognition of course value, constrained participation accompanied by emotional burden, positioning the course as an "emotional buffer zone"); misalignment between idealized teaching expectations and realistic tolerance boundaries (recognition of and expectations for interactive and practice-oriented teaching, cautious or avoidant attitudes toward task-based participation, preference for low-investment and low-burden engagement); gap between ideals of humanistic care and anticipated clinical realities (cautious expectations regar-ding the implementation of humanistic care in clinical settings, oscillation between practicing humanistic care and self-protection). Conclusion The contradictory experiences observed in nursing students′ learning are closely related to their academic workload context and stage of professional identity development.Understanding these structural tensions may contribute to a more comprehensive grasp of the teaching context of humanistic nursing courses, and provide implications for pedagogical adjustment.