Systematic review: Occupational stress of health professionals in times of pandemic [Revisión Sistemática: Estrés laboral de los profesionales de la salud en tiempos de pandemia]

Abstract

Work stress in health professionals has increased in the last two years due to the presence of SARS-COV2, being of worldwide impact. Objective: To analyze the development of scientific evidence on work stress in times of pandemic directed to health professionals.  Methodology: a bibliographic search of four databases was carried out, including studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese published in full-text indexed journals. A critical analysis was made of each of the articles and a matrix was used to order the information and categorize them. The results show that the triggers of occupational stress are related to work overload, fatigue, fear and fear perceived by health professionals in the pandemic situation. However, there are protective factors for work stress and preventive and occupational policies against work stress that can alleviate this situation. Conclusions: High levels of occupational stress in health professionals cause physical and psychological damage, the authors agree in taking preventive actions to mitigate the impact on the metal health of workers.