Background: In recent years, the number of people suffering from chronic kidney failure and being treated with hemodialysis has increased. Suffering from an extensive disease is a very difficult situation for both the patient and their family. Dialysis treatment is the only life-sustaining treatment for these patients. Therefore, it is important to study how these patients experience the treatment and the new life changes.

Method: A method to contribute to Evidence-Based Nursing, based on analyses according to Friberg's five-steps model of qualitative research was implemented in this study, in order to get a better understanding of patients' experiences.

Results: The result of the analysis was one main theme: Facing a new reality where it was described how patients were faced with a new reality that they had not previously experienced after falling ill with chronic kidney failure and four sub-themes arose: To see oneself as a burden to the family, the machine as a lifeline but loss of freedom, impact on social life, and how they learned to deal with their life situations through acceptance.

Conclusion: There is a great need for patients to become more involved in their own care. When meeting the patient, the nurse must be observant and responsive. In order to create a trusting relationship and to be able to offer the care that benefits the patient best. We also believe that more qualitative research's is needed in the subject to increase the nurse's knowledge about patients' experiences and thereby create a better understanding.