[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) › [Paediatric nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/areas/pediatric/) › Family-centred and atraumatic care of the child # Family-centred and atraumatic care of the child - Fundamental The family is a partner in the child's care, and every step aims to cause the child and family as little physical and emotional harm as possible. Updated Nov 13, 2026 ## Key points - Four principles of family-centred care: respect and dignity, information sharing, participation and collaboration. - Atraumatic care aims to minimise the physical and emotional impact of procedures on the child and family. - Its principles: avoid separating the child from the family, involve the child, partner with the parents, and minimise bodily harm and pain. - Children feel safer and calmer with a parent present, especially during invasive procedures. - Families take part in care and decisions at the level they choose; they are not forced in or kept out. ## What it is Family-centred care is an approach in which clinicians, the child and the family work together on the child's emotional, social and developmental needs as well as the illness. It rests on four principles: respect and dignity, information sharing, participation and collaboration. Atraumatic care applies the same idea to every procedure: it tries to minimise or remove the physical and emotional impact of what is done to the child, by keeping the child with the family, involving the child, partnering with the parents and limiting pain and bodily harm. For the nurse, both are daily practice, not a special programme. ## Key points - Respect and dignity: the family's knowledge, values, beliefs and culture shape the care plan. - Information sharing: families receive timely, complete, unbiased and accurate information they can understand. - Participation: the family is supported to join in care and decisions as far as it wishes. - Collaboration: families also work with staff on how the service is run, not only at the bedside. - In studies, family-centred programmes lowered parental stress and anxiety and improved satisfaction; the evidence is still limited. ## Components - Family presence: open visiting where possible and a parent at the bedside during procedures. - Family-centred rounds and regular updates, including tools such as bedside boards or diaries. - Parental participation in everyday care (feeding, hygiene, comfort), with teaching. - Continuity: the same nurses for long stays when the service can arrange it. - Atraumatic measures: preparation, distraction, comfort holding and pain relief for every procedure. ## What it is for - Reduces the child's fear and distress during hospital care and procedures. - Gives parents a role, which lowers their stress and builds trust with the team. - Lets the team use what parents know about their child: habits, early signs that something is wrong, what calms the child. ## In nursing practice - On admission, ask the family how they want to take part and who makes decisions. - Explain the plan in plain words and check what the family understood; update them after rounds. - Invite the parent to stay and comfort the child during procedures, if they wish and the procedure allows it. - Ask about the child's routines and what calms them at home, and build them into the plan. - Use an interpreter or culturally adapted material when language or culture is a barrier. ## Common mistakes - Treating family presence as a privilege granted by staff instead of part of the child's care. - Giving information only to the medical team and leaving the parents to guess. - Assuming that a parent who steps out of a procedure does not care: participation is at the level the family chooses. - Believing that repeated painful procedures make children tolerant: pain still needs prevention and relief. ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## What are the four principles of family-centred care? Respect and dignity, information sharing, participation, and collaboration. ## What is the aim of atraumatic care? To minimise or remove the physical and emotional impact of procedures on the child and the family. ## Why does parental presence matter during an invasive procedure? Children feel safer and calmer, and parents comfort and distract them through talk, touch and holding. ## How much should a family take part in care? At the level the family chooses, with support and teaching from the team. [Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/nursing/family-centred-and-atraumatic-care-of-the-child/) ## Elsewhere in DurgiPedia - [Developmental milestones: domains, corrected age and red flags](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/developmental-milestones-domains-corrected-age-and-red-flags/) ## Connections ## Related 2 - [Family assessment: structure, life cycle, genogram, ecomap and family APGAR](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/family-assessment-structure-life-cycle-genogram-ecomap-and-family-apgar/) - [The hospitalised child: stress by age, separation, the family and siblings](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/the-hospitalised-child-stress-by-age-separation-the-family-and-siblings/) [← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order. Sources: [Family-centered care in neonatal and pediatric critical care units: a scoping review of interventions, barriers, and facilitators (BMC Pediatrics 25:291)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11995472/) (BMC Pediatrics (open access, PMC11995472), 2025); [Invasive procedures and atraumatic care in pediatric nursing practice: nurses' perceptions (Frontiers in Pediatrics 13:1543138)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12119488/) (Frontiers in Pediatrics (open access, CC BY 4.0, PMC12119488), 2025); [Parental presence in the implementation of atraumatic care during children's hospitalization (Pediatric Reports 12 Suppl 1:8693)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7463144/) (Pediatric Reports (open access, PMC7463144), 2020). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/nursing/family-centred-and-atraumatic-care-of-the-child/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/family-centred-and-atraumatic-care-of-the-child/