Theme: Parenting/parenthood.

Introduction: Family-centred care (FCC) is widely acknowledged as underpinning children’s nursing. Delivering FCC requires nurses to advocate for family involvement, particularly in areas where evidence suggest the child’s needs are not being met, such as pain care.

Aim: To explore parental involvement in their child’s acute pain care.

Methods: A qualitative ethnographical approach was adopted, with non-participant observation and follow-up interviews. The framework approach underpinned data analysis.

Results: Partnership between nurses and parents is not overtly evident in relation to pain care. Involvement is often ‘unspoken’, indicating that neither the nurse nor parent are clear about the extent to which parents can, or are, involved in care.

Discussion: Parents want greater involvement in their child’s pain care and often initiate involvement by advocating for their child, with or without support from nurses.

Conclusions: The ‘Pillars of Partnership in Pain Care’ model offers an alternative approach to involving parents.