Stroke patients in the acute care phase: role of hope in self-healing.

Hope affects stroke survival positively and should therefore be facilitated via holistic nursing care. This qualitative study explored the perceptions of hope of 8 stroke patients during the acute care phase. Data generated 5 themes: storytelling, vision of hope, worries and concerns for the future, type of hope, and self-healing. Two types of hope were identified; with a "passive type of hope," participants retained disturbed feelings preventing progression; with an "active type of hope," participants expressed progression from suffering to a healing phase. Knowledge of this progression of phases of hope type can inform on training for effective nursing care to facilitate self-healing.