Emotional repercussions manifested by nurses in the care of COVID-19 patients ; Repercussões emocionais manifestadas por enfermeiros(as) diante do cuidado a pacientes com COVID-19

This study aimed to understand the emotional repercussions manifested by nurses in a field hospital in the care of COVID-19 patients. It was a descriptive and qualitative exploratory research with 16 nursing professionals from a field hospital specializing in COVID-19 in the Central region of Brazil. For data collection, a professional profile questionnaire and online interviews were used and later subjected to thematic content analysis. Regarding the results, the category "Emotional repercussions of nurses in the care of COVID-19 patients" emerged, showing that professionals expressed feelings of powerlessness, uncertainty, insecurity, fear, sadness, consternation, irritation, longing, rejection, apathy, satisfaction, and happiness through the experience of contributing, altruism, devotion, empathy, and gratitude. This study revealed the ambivalence of emotions arising from the actions of nurses in caring for COVID-19 patients, demonstrating that even after vaccination, there is a need for mental health promotion actions for nursing professionals. Keywords: COVID-19. Nursing care. Nurses. Manifested emotions. Nursing professionals. INTRODUCTION COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges to global healthcare systems, requiring complex strategies and public policies for prevention, containment, diagnosis, and treatment1. These challenges disrupted the routine of healthcare services and imposed an urgent need for professionals to adapt to the new scenario, resulting in increased physical and psychological workloads with implications for the health of workers, due to exposure to the virus, illness, and death2. In this scenario, it is important to broaden the focus on the emotional issues of healthcare professionals assisting people with COVID-19, especially of the nursing staff, which is the category that remains with the patient for the longest time; besides being caregivers, they also need mental health care2. Therefore, understanding the experiences of nurses related to the repercussions of the COVID-19 ...