Children's care: family centred but child focused

Family-centred care is a widely used but loosely defined model of care often used in children's nursing. Although this allows for flexibility in its application, it also means that nurses can have very different ideas about its meaning. Recent decisions about the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme for children under the age of 16 years in the UK and other countries have further confused this, as it has brought into question the relative position of children and their families in the decision-making process. Over time, the legislative and social positions of children have changed. Children are increasingly seen as being separate but related to their family, with an emphasis on their own human, legal, and ethical rights, including allowing children to choose the type of support they require for their care to reduce any undue stress. This article puts these into a current and contextual framework to better help nurses understand the historical as well as the contemporary reasons for the status of family-centred care today.