Aims and objectives: To provide an operational definition of family‐centred care as it applies to hospitalised children. The objective was to provide clarification of the concept by comprehensively analysing the evidence.
Background: Terms associated with family‐centred care include partnership‐in‐care, negotiated care, parental participation/involvement in care, care‐by‐parent and child‐centred care. The absence of a universally accepted definition contributes to its inconsistent implementation.