Objective To explore the psychological feelings and coping resources of patients waiting for a liver transplantation,in order to provide references for implementing psychological nursing care. Methods Using purposive sampling,15 patients waiting liver transplantation surgery from June to November 2024 at a tertiary hospital in Qingdao were selected as study subjects. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted,and data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to extract themes. Results The psychological feelings of patients waiting for a liver transplantation included 2 main themes with 6 sub-themes,namely,the complex and contradictory psychological feelings of liver transplant patients during the waiting period(expectations for transplanta-tion and future outlook,multiple psychological burdens intertwining,introspection and growth),and mobilizing psychological resilience resources to deal with complex psychological feelings(core resources,internal resources,external resources). Conclusion Clinical medical staff should implement psychological care for patients waiting for a liver transplantation based on the complex and contradictory psychological feelings they experience. Also,they should target the coping resources for psychological feelings to construct coping strategies,thereby comprehensively improving patients’ psychological health during the waiting period. The coping strategies include promoting patients’ health behaviors, improving their psychological status, and providing multidimensional social support for them.