Nursing student perceptions of hope in children: A qualitative descriptive study

Hope has been linked to positive health outcomes in the literature. Hope is abstract, multidimensional, future oriented, and occurs cognitively making it difficult to assess in children. Most of the research on hope has been conducted with adults and adolescents. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the concept of hope in children to provide nurses with tools to identify hope behaviors in children. The aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe hope behaviors in children from a nursing student perspective. Data were gathered from three focus groups (N = 19) of nursing students enrolled in a pediatric clinical rotation using a semistructured interview technique. Three themes of hope behaviors emerged from the three focus groups and were (a) future oriented, (b) goal oriented-getting up and doing things, and (c) pathways thinking processes-getting from point A to point B. Health care providers should consider hope behavioral cues, which can warrant interventions to increase hope in their young patients. Current findings demonstrate the need for the development of hope interventions that involve younger patients, thereby making their effects more sustainable across the lifespan.