Factors that cause stress for physicians and nurses working in a pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit: bibliographic review

In the last years, the relationship between occupational stress and the workers’ mental health has been the subject of many studies1-3 in our environment as well as in other countries, due to the alarming levels of temporary incapacitation, absenteeism, early retirements and health risks associated to professional activity.4 Several studies5-9 developed theoretical models in order to evaluate the prevalence of emotional problems and professional dysfunctions in the occupational setting and to identify the phenomena which are comparable in multiple working places and with different occupational groups. These models include the evaluation of the capacity of the professional to adapt to stress10, the development of the burnout syndrome,7-8,11 the control over the job and the psychological demands that result from it5-6 and the balance between effort and reward in the job that continuously provokes emotional and physiological reactions.9 Nowadays, there is enough information affirming the need to dedicate more attention related to the physicians’ and nurses’ health,3,12-13 especially to their Monalisa de Cássia Fogaça1, Werther Brunow de Carvalho2, Vanessa de Albuquerque Cítero3, Luiz Antonio Nogueira-Martins4