Pediatric nurses at neonatal wards work both with newborn infants who are ill and prematurely born infants and their parents. In order to meet parents at the neonatal ward in an appropriate way, nurses need to fully comprehend the underlying needs of this group of parents, as well as what is required in order for the parents to play their part in parenthood and participate in the care of their child. The purpose of this overview was to describe the various needs parents claim to have during the care of their child at a neonatal ward. The compilation of ten highly acclaimed scientific articles resulted in an analysis showing several distinguishable themes. These themes summarize the various ways parents described their needs of attachment, treatment (reception), participation, information and communication, continuity and closeness. The results show that in order to achieve increased parental participation in the care of the child parents need unlimited access to the neonatal ward. This change of perspective, from considering the parents as “visitors” to considering them as partners in the care of their child, is indispensible for a satisfactory approach in order to meet the demands of the parents Keywords: Attachment, infant newborn, nursing, parenting, parental experiences, participation.