Abstract: Objective: Describe the actual psychological experience of liver transplant recipients from the time they are placed on the liver transplantation waiting list to the time before the liver transplant operation, to provide guidance and empathy for patients in "difficulties", as well as reference for medical staff to take targeted psychological care for patients. Methods: The researcher as the research tool, and the explanatory phenomenological analysis was used for data analysis. By purpose sampling, patients with end-stage liver disease undergoing transplantation were included in a hospital in Zhejiang province, and a one-to-one half structured in-depth interview was used to collect data. Results: The psychological experience of liver transplant recipients during the preoperative waiting period included four themes: rational choice, experience of diseases, contradictory psychological-behavioral responses and benefit discovery. Conclusion: The liver transplant recipients experienced complicated psychological experience during the waiting period, and experiencing contradictory psycho-behavioral responses at the same time. Although suffering from the disease, they can still obtain benefits. It is recommended for clinical medical staff to provide disease information support according to the needs of patients, implement high-quality psychological care, maximize the empathy of their peers, and to help the patients spend the waiting period safely.

Key words: liver transplantation; waiting period; psychological experience