Abstract:
Hope is a behavioural phenomenon that is frequently referenced from the patient perspective. The health care providers are not considered hope deficient neither do their ability to sustain their hope with which they live their lives is deliberated about in their daily lives. Hope can be observed through actions in any setting such as in healthcare delivery. While hope is a vital force in the healthcare system particularly for those who deliver care or receive care in high mortality settings like HIV and AIDS, palliative care and infirmaries. There are few qualitative studies of hope in HIV management. The purpose of my study is to understand hope from the nurses’ perspective in HIV care practice. Narrative inquiry revealed contextual narrative threads of hope such as 1) Becoming a nurse for people living with HIV; 2) Experiences of practicing with hope; 3) Faith in God for which they gained strength; 4) Learning to live with hope from childhood. The emergent themes were not only experiences in the life that are related to the sustaining of hope but also internal beliefs that related to sustain the nurses’ hope such as faith in God. In conclusion nurses find hope vital in HIV care but this needs to be nourished.