Background: Parents have a significant role in diabetes treatment in children with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1). DM1 is an illness with a potential risk of developing acute and long-term complications.

Aim: To describe parents' experience of obstacles in preventing diabetes complications while caring for children affected by diabetes mellitus type 1.

Method: A literature overview was conducted using one mixed method, three qualitative and four quantitative scientific articles.

Results: The analysis resulted in two categories with four subcategories each. Category Parents´ experience of healthcare contained healthcare's lack of knowledge and treatment, lack of information and insufficient resources, and not to be heard. Category Barriers in parents´ and children that counteract good care contained parents' lack of and need for knowledge about DM1, parents' concerns about their children´s health affect nursing, and the child's age and development. Parents experienced frustration due to their child's misdiagnosis. Parents were not taken seriously by healthcare professionals and they perceived information about DM1 as deficient and poorly adapted. Parents experienced anxiety because of their child's diabetes and related complications. Therefore, parents allowed the child to have higher blood glucose value to prevent acute complications.

Conclusion: Lack of information and parents' worries are two substantial factors which nurses need to counteract to prevent diabetes complications in children. More research and children's perspectives are needed on this topic to get a deeper understanding of how diabetes complications can be avoided in children with DM1.