A descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative approach whose aim was to get to know the feelings of patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. The research was conducted at the Hemodialysis Unit of a university hospital of Porto Alegre. The participants were the active patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. The sample comprised 9 patients affected with chronic renal insufficiency who undergo hemodialysis. The following feelings have been identified: hope, anxiety, freedom, ambivalence, fear, guilt, and faith. Dependence on dialysis for survival causes patients to face death and disbelief at the same time that they search for strength and faith in order to fight and wait for a donor.
hemodialyses; transplantion; deth