Background: Children need to be prepared for the death of a parent and supported afterwards. Parents seek support from health and social care professionals to prepare their children. Support is not always forthcoming. Aim: To systematically identify, analyse and synthesise literature reporting of the experiences of health and social care professionals when supporting parents and children during, and following, the death of a parent. Design: A systematically constructed qualitative review and thematic synthesis. Registered on Prospero (CRD42017076345). Data sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and PROSPERO, searched from January 1996 to July 2018 for qualitative studies in English, containing verbatim reporting of health and social care professionals’ experiences of supporting parents and children during, and following, the death of a parent. Qualitative data were appraised using a modified Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative appraisal checklist. Results: The search yielded 15,758 articles. Of which, 15 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 13 included professionals’ experiences of supporting parents and children before parental death. Two included experiences of supporting surviving parents and children afterwards. Three analytical themes identified as follows: (1) aspiring to deliver family-focussed care, (2) health and social care professionals’ behaviours and emotions and (3) improving connections with parents and children. Connecting empathically with parents and children to prepare and support children entails significant emotional labour. Professionals seek to enhance their confidence to connect. Conclusion: Professionals struggle to connect empathically with parents and their children to prepare and to support children when a parent is dying and afterwards. Awareness of professionals’ needs would enable provision of appropriate support for parents and children.

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The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is used in some higher educational institutions as part of the assessment process for extended nurse prescribing. An ethnographic study using a small focus group of nurse prescribing students was conducted with the aim of gaining deeper insight into students’ attitudes towards and anxieties about their OSCE assessment. Findings of the study were collated and compared to those of previous studies. Recommendations were made as to how the OSCE can be best used to assess the competencies of students of nurse prescribing, while at the same time supporting a positive learning experience.

There is increasing emphasis on the need for nurses to develop history-taking and consultation skills for prescribing and advanced clinical practice roles. This article discusses both theoretical and practical aspects that could facilitate the development of these skills using safe and structured approaches. It explores some of the origins of consultation theory, and the challenge that nurses face in integrating new consultation skills with existing nursing assessment practice. This article outlines practical generic approaches to history taking in the clinical consultation and considers the main areas that need to be covered to support safe prescribing decisions.