Concept of Hope in Nursing

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this assignment is to explore the concept of hope, which has a great significance in nursing practice, and how this concept relates to the patient care provision will also be discussed. Hope is vital for everyone, and is an inner power or expectations of something better outcomes from any situation. Hope could be renewed with the restoration of people’s confidence in themselves, their government, and the future, hope does not depend on facts or logic, nor can it simply be ordered into being, although it can be encouraged (Parse 1999). Hope is a powerful thing which gives energy to the life, to achieve goals and perditions of better life.

DEFINIING THE CONCEPT

Hope is defined by many authors in their own views. Some of the definitions will be undertaken to understand the concept of hope precisely in this piece of work. Hope is defined as an essential but dynamic life force that grows out of faith in God, is supported by relationship, resource and work, and results in the energy necessary to work for a desired future; Hope gives meaning and happiness (Holt 2000).It means that hope is an important part of life, and it forces the life believe in the trust. The relationship, work, and resources also support it. Hope plays a vital role to improve the patient’s condition and nurses utilize this concept by using their efficient nursing skills. A nurse must have to understand that how unique and different is every individual before applying this concept to motivate their inner power to believe in this concept of hope. Hope has a meaning and provides happiness. According to Miller and Powers (1988) hope is defined as an anticipation of a future which is good, based on mutuality (relationships with others), a sense of personal competence, coping ability, psychological well – being, purpose and meaning in life, and a sense of ‘the possible’. Therefore, the concept of hope is a part of future which is very important for the better and successful life. It is based on various aspects including need to equality, means the relationship with others, personal ability and coping ability to gain planned objectives. It has a purpose and meaning in life and there is need to physical as well as psychological well being to achieve the desired result. There is also need to develop positive attitude and a feeling of possibility. Nowotny (1989) concluded that hope is a multidimensional dynamic attribute of an individual which includes six critical attribute: future oriented, active individual involvement, comes from within, related to trust, that which is hoped for is possible, involves other people or a higher being, outcome is important to the individual. A person having hope has the characteristics of multilayered elements which involves six significant traits which means a person must set goals for his/her future and should develop active individual involvement physically as well as psychologically, It also correlate the person to faith which is very necessary for the possibility of hope. According to Farran et al. (1992) hope is defined as expectation about attaining some desired goal in the future, a necessary condition for action, a subjective state that can influence realities to come, and knowledge that we can manage our internal and external realities. It is a required circumstance for the action of planned goals. It is a fact which deals with the inner and outer veracity of a person. Default and Martocchio (1985) stated that hope is defined as a multidimensional dynamic life force characterized by a confident yet uncertain expectation of achieving a future good which, to the hoping person is realistically possible and personally significant. Hope is a strong positive feeling, which is related to the achievement of the goals that are established for better future. According to Snyder et al. (1991) hope is defined as a cognitive set that is based on reciprocally derived sense of successful agency (goal directed determination) and pathway (planning of ways to meet goals). Therefore, hope is an intellectual set up which depends on the sense to achieve desired goals and objectives of life. It is a way to achieve the desired objectives by well planning that includes all the methods which are going to follow.

RELEVANCE OF THE CONCEPT TO PRACTICE

In nursing, hope has a significant role. When a nurse gives care to the patient he/she encourages the patient to think positively by using this concept of hope. It is only hope which motivates the individuals to be positivistic towards life. This will help them to maintain good interpersonal relationship as well as it accelerates the healing process. Mickley et al. (1992) considered that “a multidimensional dynamic attribute of an individual which includes the dimensions of possibility and confidence in the future outcome, active involvement which comes from relations with others and spiritual beliefs”. In this, the concept of hope has multidimensional characteristics involving possibilities and confidence. This can be only achieved by the interaction with others. Here the role of a nurse is to instill hope in the patient and build confidence and motivate to perceive life positively. According to Herth (1989) Hope is a source of energy, enabling healthy coping, and influencing survival, it is positive relationship between level of hope and level of coping in the individual. The author suggests that the terms hope and coping are inter-related with each other. It has good relationship with coping and expecting. When this concept is utilized in nursing, the nurses have to consider each patient’s needs and cope up with their expectations and disease process. It can further result in good patient outcome. The concept of hope has great impact on the role of nurse and patient care. Hope is a motivation for the nurses which relate them for their active involvement in the work (Kulig 2002). A good working environment promotes both nurse and patient to work together. Hope is also relevant for the nurses who give palliative care to the patients (Feudtner et al. 2007). Nurses play vital role in encouraging the patients to take part in the effective management. According to Snyder (1998) hope is build upon the principle that a good deal of everyday behavior is goal directed towards the patient care. It means that good behavior of the nurses plays an important role while giving care to the patient. Good communication with the patient by nurses can foster a positive hope, which may provide an effective way to achieve the goal. There are some barriers of hope which come forward when this concept of hope put in nursing practice. According to Jackson, et al. (2000) barriers in hope are difference in spiritual beliefs, lack of knowledge, language and communication, economical factors, lack of trust about healthcare system and accepting hospice is perceived as giving up hope. Every individual may have different views on their spirituality, lack of knowledge about disease condition withdraw a nurse to develop hope in the patient. Language and communication also can be the major barrier to motivate hope in patient. Moreover, nurses can also promote the hope in patient with good communication and motivate the patient by giving proper explanation regarding the disease process, its treatment and recovery. So, a nurse must have good communication skills as well as she should be a good listener. Economical barriers also affect the quality of care. Due to the financial problems one cannot afford the facilities that can be provided in good hospitals. Furthermore, different language and customs of patients can also hinder the application of the concept of hope in the nursing practice. Therefore, it is essential to know the significance of hope in nursing as well as to understand the barriers of concept in order to deliver a quality of care to the patient.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, in this piece of work the concept of hope, its various perspectives and characteristics have been analyzed. Moreover, its relevance in patient care in nursing practice were identified in this framework. It is obvious from above analysis that hope has a crucial role in nursing practices and in one’s life. It has a great influence in the coping mechanism of the patient from illness. Nurse assumes a primary role while giving care to the terminally ill patient. Finally, Hope is a multidimensional process which boosts the patient actively to takes part in the process related to their care and for the welfare of their health.