The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of mothers who have a child with chronic renal failure. An exploratory descriptive design based on a life history approach was used. Unstructured interviews were held with mothers (n=3) whose children had received continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy (since ages 4, 4 and 2) and renal transplantation (at ages 5, 5 and 6, respectively) and were now nearing adulthood (ages 18, 19 and 15, respectively). This paper focuses on the changing meaning of renal transplantation. From soon after diagnosis mothers perceived renal transplantation affirmatively. After beginning CAPD therapy, an additional meaning emerged: that renal transplantation would bring the burden of CAPD therapy to an end; they believed in renal transplantation as a perfect treatment. However, following transplantation, they faced the realization that the transplant did not provide a complete cure. Mothers were very anxious about complications and aspects of daily life. The time of "hard days" lasted for at least 3-4 years for the mothers. At the time of interview, mothers had accepted the transplant decision, and their preoccupation with rejection had changed to passive and moderate resignation. As their children became more independent, mothers had time to think their own lives.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the developmental changes in chronically-ill children and healthy children about "Experience with Death" "Outlook on Postmortem" and "Image of Death". The study foucused on 79 chronically-ill children and 89 healthy children of 3-15 years old. These subjects were interviewed by the three question item. The results were as follows: 1. Healthy children had more bereavement experience than chronically-ill children to the question item "Experience with Death". 2. Three 7 year-old and 13-14 year-old chronically-ill children answered the bereavement experience with child of the same disease. 3. Three 13-14 years old healthy children talked what thought about life and death from the bereavement experience with grandparents, and thought about the meaning and the way of life where I lived. 4. One 3-years old chronically-ill female infant answered "I'm afraid I might die and expressed uneasy feelings toward death for the question item "Image of Death". Chronically-ill children and healthy children also had the important meaning as the chance to think about life and death in which the bereavement experience with the important other person. It is important that children talk frankly about death.

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When the parents are informed that their children have cancer, they are shocked. They hesitate to accept the fact and become very anxious. Therefore, it is very important to provide the necessary psychological support to the parents. The purpose of this study was to classify anxiety in parents of children with neuroblastoma, according to the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgery as stage I , stage II , stage ID , stage IVA, stage IV B and stage IV S. All of these patients' nursing records were reviewed to check contents of the interviews with parents etc. From these records, descriptions which suggested that the attending nurses had acknowledged parent's anxiety and crisis were extracted. These discriptions were then analyzed in relation to the clinical stage of children. The results of this study show that anxiety and confusion of the parents differed according to their children's clinical stage of the neuroblastoma.

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