Challenges for health professionals in the Covid-19 pandemic coping line: integrative review

Abstract

With the context of the advance of the pandemic in the country, it is observed the importance of studies and readings on the subject, since it is a worrying factor in society, as the virus has evolution in its genetic structure. The population, since March 2020, has been showing changes in its daily routine, in which removal and security protocols have taken place within homes, public offices and businesses, in which they have been adapting measures and due to the worsening of cases. To understand the reality of health professionals who are on the front line to care for people infected with covid-19, from asymptomatic patients to patients with chronic diseases who need restricted care. This study is a literature review based on articles published until July 2021. The search for studies was carried out in the NCBI/PubMed (National Center for Biotechnology Information), SciELO (Scientific Electronic Lirary Online) databases. and Lilacs - Bireme (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences) with the following descriptors: ‘Covid-19’, ‘health professionals’, ‘mental health’, ‘pandemic’, ‘working conditions’ and ‘ health services’ and their respective correspondents in English. In the end, 16 studies were included to integrate this review article. From these studies, we constantly emphasize the challenge that these professionals are facing in their daily lives, having the concept of saving lives in any circumstance and at the same time they need to keep firm in order not to lose faith and hope after a long expressive workday , where the death of patients represents something routine. Society needs to review actions and concepts in relation to these professionals, a more reflective and humanistic look through the professionalism of the health team. Strategies are needed to maintain the mental and physical health of these professionals, in order to reduce negative impacts, since people will need to readjust and deal with the emotional, social and economic changes resulting from this pandemic. We also emphasize the need for studies on the impact of Covid-19 in the future, so that effective and assertive strategies emerge in the field of public and collective health.