Introduction

Currently, the world is going through a major challenge in the context of public health, after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. This problem, in addition to cause inconvenience to the population, proves to be an inducing factor for occupational stress for those who need to face the virus directly, the healthcare workers.

Objectives

What is the level of occupational stress among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic? What are the possible strategies to be adopted by the occupational health service in order to provide support and follow-up to health professionals?

Based on the questions raised, the aim is to analyze which individual and organizational variables predispose healthcare workers to higher levels of occupational stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify which strategies should be adopted by occupational health services, to provide support to their workers.

Methodology

This is an integrative literature review, initiated through research carried out in February 2021, in the scientific databases CINAHL plus with full text, Medline with full text, Academic Search Complete, MedicLatina, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and Repositório Científico do Instituto Nacional de Saúde.

Results

Seven articles were included. Through the studies analyzed, it was possible to conclude that the workload of healthcare workers increased during the pandemic. Healthy lifestyle habits were neglected by those professionals and the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and sugar increased.

Females and professionals with fewer years of experience, lower educational qualifications or with less income earnings experienced higher levels of stress.

Conclusions

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has spread around the world, a mental health emergency is now considered.

A large number of professionals work in jobs that are already considered to generate high levels of stress. Healthcare workers are an indisputable example. During a pandemic, they often have to work longer and stay for continuous shifts, in addition to the recommended hours.

Health professionals presented themselves as a population with high levels of stress in a pandemic context, so the great majority of them mention the importance of having psychological support available. Through the identification of which individual and organizational variables predispose healthcare workers to higher levels of occupational stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible to plan and develop strategies that mitigate or eliminate the effects caused, providing an improvement in the quality of work life. The articulation between the occupational health and psychology services of the institutions is highlighted.

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