Introduction:

To know the meaning of the kidney transplant for people who experience can be an opportunity to demystify pre-established concepts.

Objective:

To present the meaning of the kidney transplant for people transplanted.

Methods:

Qualitative study, descriptive. Were interviewed 20 people who underwent renal transplant. During the interviews, was utilized script with semi-structured questions. The data were recorded and transcribed for later operative analysis (ordination, data classification and final analysis).

Results:

The renal transplantation brought happiness and rebirth, citing new life and to be good, with compared to hemodialysis, by back to doing activities and by to have quality of life. There were also reports of information search on the treatment.

Conclusions:

The significance of the kidney transplant was positive in the lives of people who performed, for the approach with to live "normal". Furthermore, there were negative aspects, for example, the fear of graft rejection.

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