Loss and suffering are universal experiences that occur across the life span. How one learns to accept, adapt to, and advance through these experiences determines how the individual will move through life itself. Although culture and ethnicity may influence an individual’s views on living with and dying from life-threatening illness, individuals must be recognized as unique and encouraged to grieve as is most appropriate for them. Traditional grieving theories view the process in stages with closure or resolution; more contemporary theories view the process as nonstaged, individual, and ongoing. Terminal illness can occur over an extended period of time or a brief period of time. The nurse functions as both facilitator and participant in this process. The nurse also can add objectivity while the patient and family resolve many feelings, issues, and decisions related to the living–dying experience.