Fostering hope in the elderly congestive heart failure patient in critical care

This article presents a patient-centered framework applied to the elderly patient with congestive heart failure (CHF). Although the elderly have been the focus of numerous articles, the needs of the elderly CHF patient in the critical care setting, especially concerning hope versus hopelessness, have been neglected. Guidelines for the clinical management of patients experiencing hopelessness are explored. The four dimensions of hopelessness discussed herein are experiential, spiritual/transcendence, irrational, and relational processes. Nursing diagnosis, interventions, goal-setting, and family support also are discussed. Helping the elderly CHF patient maintain hope when confronted with repeated hospitalizations is a challenge for the critical care nurse.