PHYSICAL ILLNESS OF PHYSICIANS AND NURSES DURING THE NEW CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC
Fernanda Manuela Pereira Amaral, Vinícius Viana Gomes and *Julio Cesar Pinto de Souza
Brazil
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
The object of this research was the Burnout Syndrome (SB), a psychopathology triggered from a
psychosocial phenomenon that is associated with stressors in the work environment. This research
aimed to discuss the Burnout syndrome in medical professionals and nurses during the COVID-19
Pandemic. This is a systematic literature review with a qualitative approach, carried out by
articles published in the Capes and Scielo databases, published between 2017 and 2021. The
survey results show that during the pandemic period, there was a great lack of materials and
equipment in the hospital context, providing the psychological illness of health professionals who
are in the front line in the fight against COVID-19, with an extensive demand due to the increase
in patients, causing the worsening of the emotional condition of these professionals, which caused
emotional exhaustion, triggering Burnout Syndrome. It was observed that there is a propensity of
health professionals to be removed from the work they developed in the hospital context due to
the involvement of BS.
Copyright © 2021, Fernanda Manuela Pereira Amaral et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
INTRODUCTION
The Covid 19 pandemic has been a challenge for workers around the
world, especially for health professionals who, unlike other areas, did
not work at home, were called to work on the "frontline" of
combating COVID-19, where, in addition to facing an unknown
virus, they had to deal with long working hours, lack of equipment
and medicines as well as physical and mental exhaustion (Fernandes
et al., 2020). Given all the challenges faced by health professionals
during the pandemic period, the danger of being exposed to the virus
is also attributed. All these stressors wore out doctors and nurses,
triggering the mental illness of many of these professionals. Among
the consequences of this wear, one stood out for removing these
health professionals from their work and for being increasingly
present in these professionals, the Burnout Syndrome (Halbesleben;
Buckley, 2004). Burnout is a syndrome still unknown to many people,
considering that little is said about the subject. Moura et al. (2020, p.
2) states that the term burnout is defined, according to English jargon,
as that which stopped working due to an absolute lack of energy,
metaphorically it is that, or that which has reached its limit. Burnout
Syndrome does not exclusively affect health professionals. As it is
associated with a decrease in the quality of their work, it is
understood that a health professional, in a period of global pandemic,
must be well enough to perform their tasks quickly and correctly,
otherwise they will not be able to care for and treat satisfactorily, your
patient. The Burnout Syndrome in health professionals can, therefore,
negatively affect patients from uncertainties and concerns about the
treatment and clinical picture, aggravating the patient's suffering
(Perniciotti et al., 2020). Given the scenario presented by the
pandemic, this research aimed to discuss the Burnout syndrome in
medical professionals and nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
For this, the structure of the health system was initially addressed to
meet the demands that arose in the Pandemic and, subsequently, the
role of doctors and nurses at this time. The last discussion topic
addresses doctors and nurses who acquired Burnout syndrome,
addressing its factors and consequences. This work is relevant when it
comes to informing about the psychological suffering of a group of
professionals who worked, and are still working, on the "frontline" in
the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic and, at times, was affected
by emotional exhaustion , making them unable to continue their work
activities. It is also understood that this research presents information
that serves as a warning to the precariousness of our health system,
sensitizing authorities to re-examine existing public policies and
prioritizing health in the various health spaces, components of the
Unified Health System.
METHODOLOGY
This research is a systematic review of bibliographic procedure and
qualitative approach. The data survey was carried out from research
on Capes and Scielo platforms, in June 2021. For the limitation and
search for publications on the topic, the following descriptors were
ISSN: 2230-9926
International Journal of Development Research
Vol. 11, Issue, 11, pp. 51854-51857, November, 2021
https://doi.org/10.37118/ijdr.23132.11.2021
Article History:
Received 16
th
August, 2021
Received in revised form
12
th
September, 2021
Accepted 14
th
October, 2021
Published online 28
th
November, 2021
Available online at http://www.journalijdr.com
Citation: Fernanda Manuela Pereira Amaral, Vinícius Viana Gomes and Julio Cesar Pinto de Souza. “Physical illness of physicians and nurses during
the new coronavirus pandemic”, International Journal of Development Research, 11, (11), 51854-51857.
RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS
Key Words:
Burnout Syndrome; COVID-19,
Doctors, Nurses, Psychic Illness.
*Corresponding author: Julio Souza