When a person gets old, frail and dependent, physical assistance is usually needed with daily life activities. Assisting older patients physically can be seen as the fundamental nursing care. For nurses, it is important to understand what physical assistance moments mean to older patients to be able to offer Person-Centred Care. The aim of the study is to describe and understand older patients’ perspective of receiving physical assistance with their daily life activities. The research question of the present study is: What are the meanings of older patients’ experiences about physical assistance moments? A cross-sectional qualitative study design was used with a targeted selection of older patients who were in rehabilitative hospital care. Face to face semi structured interviews were conducted with 16 older patients in southern Finland. They were 67-96 years old and needed various degrees of physical assistance. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The narratives describing physical assistance moments were selected from the interviews and after that the narratives were analysed inductively with means of narrative analysis. Five different meanings of experiences were found in the participants’ narratives about physical assistance moments: Trust in the care one is exposed to, Being at the mercy of others, Receiving nurturing care and Feeling desolated. Older patients seemed to find a sense of contentment mainly from the provision of tailored and timely physical assistance and by the respect afforded to them by their nurses. How nurses encounter and communicate while performing physical assistance is therefore utterly important. Physical assistance that nurses give to older patients is not only a physical deed, but need to be founded in a deeper understanding and contemplating about older patients’ life worlds, nurses’ own behaviour, ethical issues and what creates trust and hope for dependent older patients. Keywords: Older patients, physical assistance, narrative