Objective To explore the effect of gratitude intervention on self-perceived burden of maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods Totally 82 hemodialysis patients were divided into a control group and an observation group chronologically, with 40 patients in each group. The control group received routine nursing, while the observation group additionally received gratitude intervention for 12 weeks.The Gratitude Questionnaire-6（GQ-6） and Self-Perceived Burden Scale (SPBS) were utilized to investigate the two groups before and after the intervention. Results After the intervention, the total SPBS score of the observation group was 25.10±4.88, GQ-6 score was 32.08±2.41, versus 37.52±2.44 and 16.15±2.15 respectively in the control group, and there were significant differences between the two groups （P＜0.01 for both）. Conclusion The gratitude intervention for maintenance hemodialysis patients could reduce patients′ self-perceived burden, and improve their gratitude level.