The purpose of this study was to determine nurses' perceptions of parent participation in the care of children on pediatric oncology units. Perceptions were examined regarding the desirability and feasibility of having parents participate in care. Two groups of nurses were studied to determine if there was a difference in perception of parent participation programs between nurses involved in such programs and nurses involved in other types of pediatric oncology programs.The conclusions of this study were that: 1) nurses perceive parent participation in care as valuable in providing quality care for children in the hospital; and 2) nurses employed in parent participation oncology units scored higher on both desirability and feasibility questions than nurses on oncology units of other types. The difference in scores was significant at the 0.01 level.