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Even though free and informed consent is legally required for a patient’s institutionalization, the consent of the elderly is rarely sought or obtained. However, the phase of dialogue between the central actors involved in a person’s entering a nursing home is a key factor in the success of this institutionalization. The purpose of this study is to understand how the obtaining of this consent is perceived by the different members of the family–resident–caregiver triad.Semi-structured interviews conducted with five residents, their primary caregiver, and nursing care staff have allowed us to gain a plural vision of the experience of institutionalization.The interviews (recorded and transcribed, then quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed using the software Tropes®) show that while all residents (whether or not they were consenting upon entering the nursing home) rationalize their consent decision, non-consenting residents imbue their words with more negative emotions than consenting residents. Families follow the same pattern. Finally, nursing care staff report better well-being among consenting residents than non-consenting residents. The emotional elements of the residents’ discourse differ between consenting and non-consenting residents. These emotions may relate to the notion of freedom of consent and should be taken into greater account in the institutionalization process.