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The article states that parents of children diagnosed with a life-threatening condition such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) are faced with the challenge of choosing the best treatment option. They can choose among the options of compassionate care, palliative reconstructive surgery and neonatal cardiac transplantation. The importance for parents to be aware of all treatment options for HLHS is mentioned. Analysis of the interview data from parents who decided to choose Norwood-Sano surgical option is discussed.

The article discusses the basic principles of family-centered care and the implications of the clinical microsystem in delivering care to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) that have more than 60 beds. It points out that family-centered care (FCC) is being encouraged due to the increasing number of premature births and the shortage of nurses. It describes FCC as one which facilitates parent-professional collaboration and a clinical microsystem as a model that forms smaller functioning systems within a largely-populated NICU.