"The worst has happened- my child has cancer." : A literature-based study of parents' experiences during the illness.

Background: About 250 000 children develops cancer every year. Most of them has a parent and a family who also is getting affected. During this time the parents go through a crisis and the nurse had a central role to help them through the hard time. Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate parent´s experiences of living with a child with a cancer diagnose during the illness. Method: A literature -based study, qualitative content analysis of 14 qualitative articles. Result: The results are presented in three main themes: "The emotional roller coaster", "The balance of the uncertain" and "The swinging of the support". Conclusion: The parents experienced a lot of feelings during the child's illness and they changed their view of life. A fear of the unknown and a feeling of losing the sense of normality were expressed by the parents. A shuttle between security and disappointment appeared during the entire duration of the illness. Therefore it was important for the parents to get continuous information, opportunities for participation and support from someone they could rely on to feel safe