In this article, we argue for a conceptual move from family-centred care (FCC) to a child-centred care approach and the implications for clinical nursing practice. Firstly, we argue that the parents and professional dominance constructs an asymmetric relationship towards the child, which may take away the focus from the child; Secondly, we need to renew efforts to promote the fundamental principles of protection, promotion and participation rights for children and young people according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declaration and thirdly, we need to strengthen the child’s perspective and to view the child as an agent representing own experiences and wishes to be respected and negotiated.

Children's participation in decision-making in the health care setting is complex because parents and health professionals tend to take a protective stance towards children to act in their best interest. Children prefer to be protected in some situations and to share decision-making in others. Adults in the health care setting need to consider children as individuals, rather than as a homogenous group, and take into account that a child's competence and preferences will depend on the circumstances in every situation. This article argues for a situational perspective of children's participation to act in the child's best interest and to balance protection with shared decision-making, according to children's rights and desires.

This study aims to capture parental descriptions of how siblings take leave of and mourn a stillborn brother or sister and how their parents support them. Data were collected by questionnaires from 16 parents of siblings to a stillborn child one year after the stillbirth. Data were analysed numerically for the multiple-choice questions and content analysis was used for parental comments and descriptions. The results describe siblings’ farewell to a stillborn brother or sister and how their parents in the midst of their own grief were involved in supporting siblings’ wellbeing, and observed their mourning reactions. Although the findings need to be interpreted with caution, they may provide insight that enables staff to become more sensitive to the whole family experience in the practice of their profession. Further research into siblings’ grief and parental support after stillbirth is crucial so that further light may be shed on their situation.

In the Swedish Primary Child Health Care (PCHC) children participate in regular health visits. In these visits children as actors demonstrate their subjective maturity through bodily and verbal expressions. The aim of this study was to explore three-year-old children's expressions when they take part as actors in a PCHC situation. An explorative design with a hermeneutic approach and video observations was used. Twenty-nine children participated. The findings exhibit a variation of expressions in the situation conceptualized as actions in a progression of states: from a state of getting ready to a state of being ready and further to a state where the child strengthens their own self. This progression is dynamic and coloured with the states of not being ready or of being adverse. The conceptualization of children's expressions can contribute towards encouraging nurses' sensitivity when inviting and guiding children in PCHC situations.

Nurses in Swedish child and school healthcare need to balance their assignment of promoting children's health and development based on the national health-monitoring programme with their responsibility to consider each child's needs. In this balancing act, they encounter children through directed and pliable strategies to fulfil their professional obligations. The aim of this study was to analyse the extent to which nurses use different strategies when encountering children during their recurrent health visits throughout childhood. A quantitative descriptive content analysis was used to code 30 video recordings displaying nurses' encounters with children (3-16 years of age). A constructed observation protocol was used to identify the codes. The results show that nurses use pliable strategies (58%) and directed strategies (42%) in encounters with children. The action they use the most within the pliable strategy is encouraging (51%), while in the directed strategy, the action they use most is instructing (56%). That they primarily use these opposing actions can be understood as trying to synthesize their twofold assignment. However, they seem to act pliably to be able to fulfil their public function as dictated by the national health-monitoring programme, rather than to meet each child's needs.

In 2014, Stockholm became the first Swedish county to introduce the rotavirus vaccine, which is given from as early as six weeks of age. The aim of this study was to describe parental conceptions of rotavirus infection and vaccination during its implementation as part of the child immunization program, as their support is vital for any new vaccine. The study followed a descriptive, qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach. Ten in-depth interviews with parents were conducted in Stockholm County, transcribed and analyzed to describe qualitatively different conceptions of rotavirus infection and vaccination. Four main categories were identified: to vaccinate without doubt, hesitant to vaccinate, risky to vaccinate, and unnecessary to vaccinate. All the parents had in common the desire to protect their children from suffering, either by vaccinating their child in order to avoid rotavirus infection or by not vaccinating their child because of concerns about the side effects. It is important that child health-care professionals understand the variations of conceptions that influence the parents' decisions and that these conceptions may differ considerably. Individualized parental information about rotavirus infection and vaccination would help to achieve a successful implementation of the vaccination program.

This study forms part of a larger project about developing and using interactive technology to facilitate young children's participation in healthcare situations. Children's participation in these situations improves their motivation and situated understanding. Likewise, their participation helps professionals to more fully understand the child's perspective. In the project, an interactive communication tool, that is, an application suitable for tablet use, was developed with children, aged three to five, in two clinical settings. When tested, the children's participation cues, identified from video recordings of healthcare situations, were understood as having curious, thoughtful or affirmative meanings. This study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in the young children's use of participation cues when using an interactive communication tool in healthcare situations. A secondary analysis of the identified cues was performed focusing on age, setting and examination or procedure. In total, 2167 cues were identified representing either curious, thoughtful or affirmative cues. The curious cues were mainly used (66%), followed by thoughtful (28%) and affirmative (6%) cues. Differences in cue usage were seen in relation to the children's age and setting. Knowing how children may react to common healthcare procedures may help increase healthcare professionals' awareness of the need to support children in an individual and situational way.

This study aims to describe nurses' beliefs and practice regarding family involvement in the care of hospitalized children in Mozambique. Ethnographic fieldwork was used. The data production consisted of field descriptions from observations and interviews with 36 nurses. Through qualitative content analysis the findings show that nurses' practice of family involvement reflects a society that is poor, hierarchical, family-oriented but at the same time still adaptive. Four themes are identified: family members' presence in order to assist the nurses in care; nurses' support and education of family members to be involved in care; nurses' shielding of family members from family involvement; difficulties and conditional dilemmas in the nurses' involvement of families. It is concluded that emphasizing culturally congruent nursing care is necessary if families' way of life is to be accommodated. However, to empower family involvement in everyday practice, the Mozambican nurses themselves need to be empowered.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) asserts the right of every child to self-determination, dignity, respect, non-interference, and the right to make informed decisions. The provision of quality care in health services tailored to children's preferences means that health professionals have a responsibility to ensure children's rights, and that the child is encouraged and enabled to make his or her view known on issues that affect them. This paper will help illuminate and differentiate between a child perspective and the child's perspective in health care settings. The issues are supported with research which illustrates the different perspectives. Both perspectives are required to perceive and encounter children as equal human beings in child-centred health care settings.