Background: When a child gets cancer it involves the whole family. The view of family focused care has change over the years. It has been shown that the family needs support to manage their life situation, when their child is ill. Aim: The aim of this study was to illustrate the family’s life situation, when a child gets cancer. Method: 12 scientific, both qualitative and quantitative articles, were used to reach the result. The articles were critically examined concerning their method and result Results: The result showed that many families lacked psychosocial support. There were both similarities and differences between mothers’, fathers’ and siblings’ experiences, but they also had specific experiences. The result is reflected by Travelbees nursing theory. Discussion: When a child is diagnosed with cancer it affects the whole family. Nurses need to take care of the whole family and not just focus on the child that’s ill. During the entire time we need to have family focused care in mind.

Keywords: Child, cancer, life situation, families, caring.