Node access by role or user, what module(s) should I use? I'm trying to limit the access to certain nodes in certain content types by role. So far I wasn't able to find any suitable module that would do just that. 

Please take into consideration that content type access by role is not enough (but surely, I'll look into any suggested module that does this too), it must go to the node level.
Are you aware of any module that might do it?

This might be another question but since it's so closely related and it could solve my problem I'll put it here too:
I know about nodeaccess, however when I programmatically load nodes using $node = node_load($nid), there's no item in the $node array that suggests node access permissions were set. Everything else is there including those "pesky" CCK fields. Am I doing something wrong here?

Thanks in advance.
The Content Access module gives you role permissions at the content type and (optionally) node level. By default, node level permissions are disabled but you can enable it on a type-by-type basis.

If you install ACL module, Content Access can give you per user permissions at the content type and node level.