As repercussões emocionais em trabalhadores de enfermagem de Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal

Abstract

Introduction: The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a highly complex care environment, intended for the care of newborns in critical clinical conditions. The work of nursing professionals in these units is associated with emotional exhaustion, related to high workload, emotional pressure and insufficient institutional support. Objective: To develop two complementary studies, an integrative literature review and research on the articulation between emotional experiences, interpersonal relationships and health of nursing professionals in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Methodology: This is a bibliographic and field study structured in the format of a dissertation composed of two interdependent scientific articles. The first article consisted of an integrative literature review, of a descriptive-exploratory nature, carried out through an integrated search in databases, aiming to identify scientific evidence on factors associated with mental illness among nursing professionals in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The second article corresponded to field research, also descriptive-exploratory, conducted with 30 nursing professionals from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a federal university hospital. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and qualitative data by lexical analysis, with the aid of the IRAMUTEQ software, used for statistical analysis of textual data, and thematic content analysis. Results: The results indicate that interpersonal relationships play a central role in mediating these processes, acting both as a protective factor that helps individuals cope with the adversities of daily work life and as a risk factor for emotional health that tends to intensify psychological distress.