Abstract: Objective: To describe the experience of social alienation in young and middle-aged patients with Maintenance Hemodialysis (MH), and to provide reference for further nursing support. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted, and 14 patients with uremia undergoing MH treatment in a grade A hospital of traditional Chinese medicine in Hangzhou were selected from June to October 2023 for semi-structured in-depth interviews by purposive sampling. The themes were summarized and refined by content analysis. Results: The experience of social alienation in MH patients was summarized into four themes: Social avoidance, Self-isolation, Restriction of freedom, Discovering the power of the support system. Conclusion: Young and middle-aged patients with MH treatments experience social alienation due to impaired physical health, poor psychological status, limited social support and other reasons. It is necessary to strengthen the symptom management and psychological counseling, and strengthen multidimensional support to help this population return to and adapt to society.

Key words: Maintenance Hemodialysis; young and middle-aged patients; uremia; social alienation; qualitative research