Objective To stave off nurse-patient disputes and to improve nursing quality as well as satisfaction with nursing service. Methods A total of 120 families whose children were receiving treatment in pediatric department were divided into 2 groups chronologically. The control group was subjected to routine nursing care mode, while the intervention group to expectation management mode. The difference in perceived and expected nursing service scores，nursing quality rating scores, nursing service satisfaction scores and incidence rate of nurse-patient disputes were compared between the 2 groups. Results The intervention group had high expected and perceived nursing service scores（>4 points）; in terms of reliability dimension, perceived scores were significantly higher than expected scores, while in other dimensions, expected scores were significantly higher than perceived scores (P<0.05 for all). The intervention group had higher nursing quality rating scores, and scores of satisfaction with nursing service, and lower incidence rate of nurse-patient disputes, than the control group (P<0.05 for all). Conclusion Families of pediatric patients have high expectations for pediatric nursing care. The use of expectation management in pediatric nursing can effectively improve family′s perception of nursing care, enhance nursing quality and family′s satisfaction with nursing service, thus reducing the occurrence of nurse-patient disputes.