Older adults have always been important parts of children's lives, playing a variety of roles including grandparent, caregiver, friend, and neighbour. Grandparents also play a variety of roles in families. Often a child's first encounter with serious illness or death involves a grandparent or other older adult. Grandparents are also increasingly serving as primary caregivers for children. Paediatric nurses have long recognised their role in helping children cope with grief and loss associated with illness or death of a grandparent. Paediatric nurses need to be able to provide appropriate interventions and teaching when older adults are primary caregivers or assisting parents in the day-to-day care of the child. They also need to have sufficient knowledge about older adults to help parents and children understand the normal changes they will see in their aging loved ones, and to help parents effectively incorporate grandparents and older adults into children's lives. (Contains 1 table.)