Objectives: General palliative care (PC) is provided more at home, leading to increased involvement of relatives. Although support for relatives is a fundamental component of PC, there are deficiencies in the support provided to relatives when general PC is provided at home. This study aimed to describe the support provided by health professionals before and after a patient's death to relatives involved in general PC at home.

Methods: A cross-sectional register study was implemented, with data from the Swedish Register of Palliative care. The sample consisted of 160 completed surveys from relatives who had been involved in general PC at home, with 160 related surveys answered by health professionals. Only the questions about support to relatives were used from the surveys.

Results: The findings showed that although many relatives appear to receive support in general PC at home, not all relatives receive optimal support before or after a patient's death. The findings also indicated differences in whether relatives received some support before and after a patient's death depending on the type of relative. There were also differences in responses between health professionals and relatives regarding if relatives received counseling from a doctor about whether the patient was dying.

Significance of results: There is potential for improvements regarding support for relatives, especially after a patient's death, which has been confirmed in previous studies. The differences in whether relatives received support before and after a patient's death depending on the type of relative highlight the need for future research on how to support different types of relatives before and after a patient's death when general PC is provided at home.

Background: In Sweden, asthma, allergy and COPD clinics are a successful model for evidence-based care. The main criteria for the clinic is that it should be led by an educated asthma, allergy and COPD-nurse. Further, allergy consultant nurses have the main task to be a bridge between health care and the family/preschool/school/work.

Aim: To describe the Swedish nursing education courses of an asthma, allergy and COPD nurse and an allergy consultant nurse.

Methods/results: To become specialized, the nurse need further university studies in asthma, allergy and COPD after bachelor degree, i.e. at least 15 credits. This can also be followed up by further credits and a master’s degree. The courses are designed with a person-centered approach as a mix of nursing and medicine. It includes early detection, screening and diagnosis of asthma, allergy and COPD and skills about spirometry, allergy testing, patient education, smoking cessation support and the use of a written treatment-plan as well as assessment of risk factors, comorbidities, and symptoms i.e. both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. Self-management, interprofessional collaboration and how to evaluate adherence to guidelines by using the Swedish National Airway Register are highlighted in the course. The allergy consultant nurse receives deeper education in allergy and the immunological mechanisms. The consultant often has postgraduate credits in specialist nursing or a master of science with a specialisation in paediatric and adolescent healthcare.

Conclusion: Advanced education after bachelor’s degree has benefits both for the patient and for the society.