Objective To investigate the needs of family members of critically ill children in PICU based on the Kano model, and to provide basis for nursing service quality improvement in PICU. Methods A total of 150 family members of critically ill children in PICU were selected and asked to fill out the needs assessment questionnaire developed based on the Kano model. Results Among the expected needs of the parents, 11 needs were in the dominant area of the matrix map (the first quadrant); all the 9 must-be needs were in the area of to be improved (the second quadrant); all the 8 indifferent needs were in the secondary improvement area of the matrix diagram (the third quadrant); 13 out of the 14 attractive needs were in the maintenance area of the matrix graph (the fourth quadrant). Conclusion In PICU nursing work which centers on children and their families, meeting the must-be needs is the top priority to be improved, and the expected needs are the most important and satisfactory needs of the family members of critically ill children. On the basis of meeting the needs of the first two attributes, the implementation of measures to meet the attractive needs can improve the humanistic nursing quality of PICU.