The study is a part of The International Closeness Survey in the SCENE group who studies how the cultures of neonatal units (NICU) promote or hinder parent-infant physical and emotional closeness. In this study, parents’ perception of received staff support and nurses’ perception of given nurse support were compared between a Family Centred Care (FCC) unit and a traditional open-bay NICU in Norway. Thirty families with infants born before 35 weeks of gestational age were included in both units. Every nurse working at infant bedside (n = 62 + 67) participated in to the study for 3-month period. Parents responded to one out nine potential randomised questions about staff support sent as an SMS message to their mobile phone every evening. Nurses responded to corresponding questions via a web page on how they perceived the support they provided. The nurses’ evaluation on given parent support did not differ between the units. In the FCC unit, the nurses reported highest satisfaction with their own support in actively listening to parents. In the open bay unit, the nurses gave the highest scores on parents trusting on them. The parents in the FCC unit reported higher scores with respect to active listening, emotional support, parents trusted by staff, parental participation in decision making, and medical rounds, compared to the parents in the open bay unit (p < 0.05). The parents in the FCC unit report more satisfaction with support from staff than parents in the open bay unit.