A comparison of the level of hope in patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent cancer.

Patients with newly diagnosed cancer use their treatment and nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals as sources of hope and support. Patients with recurrent cancer reported drawing hope from faith. IMPLICATIONS AND NURSING PRACTICE: Heightened awareness of the patient-healthcare professional relationship will enable healthcare professionals to provide care that is more sensitive to one congruent with patients' needs. Healthcare professionals need to assess the meaning of faith for each individual patient and offer services to foster this source of hope.