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Introduction: heart defects are very common in the paediatric age group; parents often discover these pathologies after birth and learn that heart surgery is the only solution. The hospitalisation of your child in an intensive care system involves high levels of stress, anxiety, depression. Nurses take an active role in assisting the young patient but also in taking care of the entire family unit. Objective: the aim of the study was to describe the experience of the parents of children admitted to a cardiac surgery unit. Method: phenomenological hermeneutic plan according to Cohen. Results: from the analysis of 16 interviews 3 main themes emerged: fear for the possible loss of one’s child; the feeling of having lost the role of parent and the need to receive more information in order to be an active part in the treatment process. Conclusions: The hospitalisation of a child in an Intensive Care unit and, specifically, a cardiac surgery intensive care unit, requires care staff to take charge of the entire family unit. Nurses are the first professionals from whom parents expect this involvement. This study offers a glimpse into the experience of parents who have their child admitted to an intensive cardiac surgery; furthermore, it can be the starting point for further research aimed at the holistic harmonisation between the dyad (family and child) often unjustly split during intensive care hospitalisation.

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