Hope as a mode of coping in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The purpose of this article is to emphasize the role of hope as a mode of coping in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). When taking care of patients with ALS, a rapidly progressing fatal disease which has no known cure or treatment and obscure etiology, the nurse's primary aim is to assist the patient to live as fully as possible within limitations imposed by the disease. An analysis of tasks involved in the hoping process can be used as guidelines for nursing intervention with ALS patients and their families.