Background: In the literature on person-centred care, it is explicitly emphasized that it is not only about  the person directly receiving care, but also about his or her environment and that relationships between all persons involved in the care process are of great importance. However, it remains unclear what constitutes a person-centred view on relatives and in which concrete principles this manifests itself. Since parents play a central role in the care of children, this is particularly evident in this field. Objective: The aim was to identify aspects of the role of parents of hospitalized children and to gain insights into what it means for them to feel perceived as a person in this situation in order to derive principles of person-centred care in the sense of a holistic view on the parent-child dyad.  Method: A qualitative study was conducted. Parents of hospitalised children in an Austrian Hospital where interviewed, single or with their partner. Data were analysed qualitative content analysis. Results: Parents have to balance everyday life within and outside the hospital by taking on various roles. Inside they focus on their child as coordinators, experts and advocates for their child and try to keep on being a family in the hospital. They also maintain family life at home and    keep on their own professional role. Parents want also to be perceived as persons with individual needs, values and relationships. They want to live a self-determined life in hospital and value appropriate information and communication. Conclusion: From the results, first principles for person-centred care with focus on parents as part of the care arrangement were derived. Although these should be elaborated by further studies, they can inform nursing trainings, guidelines for person-centredness in paediatric care and instruments to evaluate the perception of person-centred care from a parents´ perspective.