Twelve nurses who worked in intensive care units agreed to participate in the interviews. During the project 10 nurses were interviewed, for an overall interview rate of 83% and 2•7% of those initially contacted to participate. The nurses all worked in hospital-based critical care units in three Iowa counties. Interview responses are provided within the concepts of types of elder abuse, suspicions of elder abuse, reporting of elder abuse, barriers to reporting elder abuse, legislation and improvement in practice.