Objective To explore the health education demands of indwelling for parents of children undergoing surgery for hypospadias. Methods The parents of totally 114 children with hypospadias admitted in the Department of Urinary Surgery of a Class Ⅲ Grade A hospital in Beijing from January 2015 to December 2017 were investigated with the self-designed health education demand and method questionnaire to understand their demands for the content and method of health education. Results Totally 114 parents were included in this study. Their demand for proper fixation of urethral catheter, when to draw catheter and leakage around and obstruction was 100%. 97.74% of the parents wanted to understand the properties of urine. 92.11% of the parents wanted to learn the replacement frequency and method of drainage bags, and 52.63% wanted to know the structure and function of urethral catheter. 100% of them expected one-to-one or face-to-face health guidance, daily life care and professional knowledge guidance from nurses, and knowledge attainment by communication with medical and nursing staff. 81.58% wanted heath lectures within the ward, and 78.95% believed health education leaflets might be helpful. Conclusions Understanding the demands for the content and method of health education of indwelling for the parents of children by the questionnaire and providing scientific, detailed and targeted health education and guidance may ameliorate the fear and anxiety in these parents and ensure that they can master nursing knowledge and skills and that the indwells until it is drawn as expected. Key words: Hypospadias; Heath education; Family care; Catheter; Demand