Hope and Feminist Care Ethics: What is the Connection?

Health-care providers - including nurses - are considered to have an obligation to foster hope in their patients. Various interventions for fulfilling this obligation have been suggested. Comparatively little time, however, has been devoted to examining the moral aspects of this duty and to situating this investigation within an appropriate ethical framework. Given the significance of hope in patients' lives, and the significance of their relationships with health-care providers, the author contends that a feminist care ethics approach is best suited for this investigation. In particular, the author draws upon Joan Tronto's ethic of care and discusses the 4 aspects of care she describes as they relate to the role of hope in health care. Ultimately, this paper shows that it is possible for health-care providers to care about and for hope. Based on this framework, future directions for nursing research are discussed.