Working conditions in COVID-19 hospital units: perceptions of nursing workers.

OBJECTIVE: To know the perceptions of nursing workers about their working conditions in COVID-19 hospital units. METHOD: Qualitative, descriptive, multicenter study, carried out in September 2020 and July 2021 with 35 nursing workers from COVID-19 units of seven hospitals in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were produced through semi-structured interviews and submitted to thematic content analysis with the support of NVivo software. RESULTS: The participants reported availability of material resources and personal protective equipment, but perceived a lack of human resources, multiprofessional support and extra absorption of tasks, resulting in the intensification of work and culminating in overload. Professional and institutional aspects were also mentioned, such as fragility in professional autonomy, wage lag, payment delays and little institutional appreciation. CONCLUSION: Nursing workers in the COVID-19 units lived with precarious working conditions, worsened by organizational, professional and financial elements.

Pleasure and suffering of nursing in COVID-19 hospital units: between disenchantment and formation of meanings.

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the experiences of pleasure and suffering of nursing workers in COVID-19 hospital units. METHODS: a multicenter, qualitative study, developed with 35 nursing workers from COVID-19 units in seven hospitals in southern Brazil. Data were produced through semi-structured interviews, submitted to thematic content analysis with the help of NVivo. RESULTS: experiences of pleasure were linked to gratification, identification with work content, positive results in care, recognition, integration with the team and personal overcoming. Suffering was revealed in daily life of deaths and losses, feelings of helplessness, team conflicts, institutional demands, professional devaluation. Workers reported disenchantment, but also strengthening the meaning of their work, highlighting frontline impacts on their mental health. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: in the dynamics between pleasure and suffering in nursing work in COVID-19 hospital units, elements point to the risk of psychological illness.