A never-ending work : Parents' experiences of living with a child with type 1 diabetes

Background: The parents’ child with type 1 diabetes are responsible to make glucose measurements several times a day and by that have the primary responsibility for the child's health. This results in a new life for the parents. Aim: To describe parents' experiences to live and care for a child with type 1 diabetes. Method: A qualitative literature-based method by systematically searching through Pubmed and Cinahl about 10 selected articles. Results: The article revealed five main themes: Parents' increased responsibility, Parents' longing for a normal life, How the surroundings lack of knowledge affects you, The Healthcare system responsibility, Parents' painful emotions and feelings. Based on these five themes eleven sub themes emerged: The fight for a stable blood sugar level, Constant surveillance, Not limits the child’s daily activities, Parents' life change, School staff and friends' significant support, Constantly educating the surroundings, The importance of Care support, Your own need for knowledge, Continuous worries and fear, Feeling guilt over right treatment and care of the child, Inevitable exhaustion and burnout. Discussion: A nurse can learn a lot from the parents' experiences of living with a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and by that create valuable support for the parents. The discussion involves parents' worries and feelings of fear and guilt. The very important responsibility that the health care system has is discussed in relation to the parents. Mothers were mainly the ones who distributed the care of their child’s type 1 diabete