The death of a child can result in complicated grief. Thirty-one adults, 60 years of age or older, who lost an adult child, participated in a qualitative study using a focus group format that allowed them to discuss their experience. A hermeneutical approach was used to develop an overall thematic description of what it meant to an older person to lose an adult child. Four major themes emerged: losses, limited influence/decision making power, regrets, and decreased quality of life. Suggested interventions to prevent complicated grief in elders who experienced the death of an adult child include attentive listening, storytelling, and the use of metaphors.

Despite physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse from their partner, many women remain in an abusive relationship, often proclaiming to love the one who is hurting them. Nineteen females who had experienced intimate partner violence were interviewed and asked to share their experiences and describe their meaning of love. An analysis of the transcripts was done using qualitative content analysis. With this approach, the contents of the verbal data were summarized and arranged in three major categories: (1) What love is not; (2) Attributes of a loving relationship; and (3) Attachment to the relationship. The findings demonstrate a woman's clear recognition of being in an abusive relationship, yearning to be truly loved, but often finding herself unable to detach from the relationship.

Home care nurses aides have opportunities to support families caring for frail elders; however, most lack specialized geriatric knowledge, competence, and resourcefulness skills essential to caring for vulnerable elders and assisting their families. This study compares the pretest and posttest intervention scores of a geriatric care continuing education program for nurses and aides. Specific participant outcomes include increased geriatric knowledge, competency, and resourcefulness.

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