Occupational stress of nurses in emergency care: an integrative review of the literature

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Toanalyze the scientific literature related to the way in which occupational stress is present in the life of a nurse who works in an emergency care setting. METHODS: Weperformed an integrative review of the literature using the Bdenf, Lilacs, Medline, and Pubmed databases, and the Scielo repository.The inclusion criteria for sample selection were: articles published in Portuguese and English which reflected the theme of the study, published and indexed in these databases within the last 10 years. RESULTS: We selected eight articles.The results indicated that the occupational stress of nurses in emergency care is related to the scarcity of human resources and number of hours worked, the physical plant and inadequate material resources, as well as night shifts, the work-home interface, interpersonal relationships, competitive work climate, and the gap between theory and practice. CONCLUSION: The meaning of work for professionals contributes to their protection against suffering and occupational stress.