The objective was to understand the perspective of nurses about the participation of the family in palliative cancer care and to analyze the nursing care strategies to meet their needs. Descriptive and qualitative research, conducted at the National Cancer Institute between January and March 2013, with 17 nurses. Elements of the Roy Adaptation Model were used for the interpretation of the data. Two categoriesemergedfrom the thematic analysis: perspective of nurses about the presence and valuation of family in the hospital; and appointing strategies to encourage family participation in care and meet their needs. This participation is essentialand represents a training opportunity for the purpose of homecare. Nurses create strategies to encourage it and seek to meet the needs. The results contribute to promote the family adaptation and integrity, in order to balance the dependent and independent behaviors, aimingfor quality of life and comfort. Further studies are neededdue to the challenges of the specialty.